I Love Rugby

Australia led the world champions by 25 points with twelve minutes to go. Then four Wallabies were sent to the bin in six minutes. Harry Wilson on seventy. Ryan Lonergan a minute later, with a penalty try against him. Then Sua'ali'i. Then Paisami on seventy-six. Eleven men in gold, defending their own line, against a full-strength Bomb Squad. South Africa scored 21 unanswered points in the last twelve minutes. Australia held. 42-38. But here's the thing we want to talk about: the ending is not why they won. For sixty minutes Australia were simply the better rugby team — and the way they got there says more about where this side is heading than any goal-line stand. Rod Kafer — 12 Tests for the Wallabies, a World Cup winner in 1999, and a side that won ten of the twelve matches he played in — joins George Gregan and John Smit to break it down. Oh, and the referee finished the Test match borrowing a mobile phone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africa came out of this series on 95.09 rating points — the highest any team has ever recorded, in 23 years of world rankings. Higher than any of their three World Cup wins. And yet across four Tests the All Blacks scored more tries than they did. 43-28 in Baltimore, ten tries in a series decider, and a record American crowd of 68,173. Andrew Mehrtens — 70 Tests and 967 points for the All Blacks, and a man who played in a World Cup final against the Springboks — joins George Gregan and John Smit. We get into the pattern everyone missed: one Springbok try in the first Test, three in the second, four in the third, six in the fourth. Same opponent, four weeks, better every time. Plus the All Blacks shape that finally cracked the blitz, and the try that turned the match and is still being argued about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before a ball was kicked in this series, Jim Hamilton said the All Blacks could beat South Africa in one Test — but they would not win a series. Three Tests later, that is precisely what has happened. South Africa beat New Zealand 29-24 at a packed FNB Stadium in Soweto to go 2-1 up in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry. They lost Cheslin Kolbe to a broken jaw inside ten minutes, went 12-5 down, and still found a way — through a penalty try from a scrum that settled a week of arguing between two coaches, and through Malcolm Marx, who was rated 9 out of 10 and was the man who cleaned Ardie Savea out of the Test match. George Gregan and John Smit are joined by Jim Hamilton — 63 Tests in the second row for Scotland, and co-host of The Rugby Pod — to go through all of it. Plus: the Wallabies draw 28-28 in freezing Mendoza to win their first ever Test series in Argentina, and Les Kiss is still unbeaten. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week South Africa got 0.9 points every time they entered the All Blacks' 22. In Cape Town they got four. That's the whole Test match. The Springboks won 33-26 to level Rugby's Greatest Rivalry at 1-1 — while scoring fewer tries than New Zealand. Kolbe kicked seven from seven. Kolisi returned, captained and scored. And then Rassie Erasmus and Dave Rennie went to war over the scrum. George Gregan and John Smit are joined by Jean de Villiers — 109 Springbok Tests, 37 as captain, 2007 World Cup winner — to break down how the series turned, what the All Blacks do about their lineout, and who wins at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Plus the Wallabies hold off Argentina 27-21 in Jujuy, and Les Kiss stays unbeaten. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the first episode of I Love Rugby hosted by George Gregen and John Smit. South Africa 16, New Zealand 33 — and almost none of it made sense. The Springboks won the scrum, the possession and the carries at Ellis Park, and lost by 17. Hosts George Gregen and John Smit are joined by Justin Marshall — 81 Tests for the All Blacks, the most try-scoring halfback in New Zealand history with 24, and one of the most recognisable voices in world rugby commentary — to unpack the first Test of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry and work out how a game that lopsided in the stats ended up that one-sided on the scoreboard. Together they break the Test into big moments: the ten minutes before half-time where the All Blacks absorbed everything and walked off one point down; the 22-entry numbers that explain the whole result (South Africa 0.9 points per visit, New Zealand 3.6); the breakdown tactic Rassie Erasmus admitted he never saw coming; how New Zealand lost the scrum battle and won the Test anyway; and what the Springboks must fix in seven days in Cape Town. Will Jordan's two tries, Jasper Wiese's best Test in a Bok jersey, a 12-Test winning streak gone, and a new world number one. Test 2 is at DHL Stadium on Saturday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.