This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier review the second Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington with the All Blacks beating Australia and ending the 'Capital Curse'. We review the Rugby Championship as a whole, dish up some awards and look ahead to the end of year tour and what big calls the ABs selectors will have to make. We also ask if there is a Crusaders bias in the All Blacks and cover off some interesting news out of Johnny Sexton's new book. See omnystudio.com/listener...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier review the Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney - and how the All Blacks nearly let what was heading for a comfortable win turn into a nervy defeat. We again try to answer what is going wrong in the last 20 minutes of test matches and what changes might be in the offing for Wellington. We run through a controversial ANZAC rugby side of the professional era, as well as look back at Sam Cane's test career ahead of his probable 100th match...

Elliott Smith and Liam Napier are in Sydney this week for the opening Bledisloe Cup and in a crossover special, stopped by the ESPN Scrum Reset podcast studios to count down to Saturday’s match with Aussie rugby journos Sam Bruce and Christy Doran.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier are in Sydney and celebrate touching down by jumping straight into a podcast. They discuss the Bledisloe Cup test this weekend between the Wallabies and All Blacks and whether the Australians have a show, and what the All Blacks strategy is around blooding new talent. Also on the podcast, a look back at the Black Ferns v England, Super Rugby format changes and the Ranfurly Shield stays in Tasman. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier assess another All Blacks' defeat to the Springboks, this time in Cape Town as opportunities go begging. We ask what are the reasons for the All Blacks being unable to put away the 'Boks and what is missing from the side at the moment. We also dig into further information around a 2026 tour of South Africa by the All Blacks, the possible ANZAC Day match against the Wallabies and chat the Ranfurly Shield changing hands. See...

This week on Rugby Direct, ZB's own Elliott Smith reviews the first All Blacks v Springboks test and unpacks what went wrong towards the second half the match. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elliott's landed in Johannesburg and he and Liam assess the stunning news that Leon MacDonald has quit the All Blacks coaching staff after just five tests. Elliott and Liam also offer some thoughts on where the first test between the All Blacks and Springboks will be won and lost, as well as the latest in the NPC and FPC. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier discuss the All Blacks' comeback victory over Argentina at Eden Park - and whether or not the team is ready to face off against South Africa. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier review the All Blacks' stunning defeat against Argentina in Wellington and dig into how it happened and what needs to be changed for the rematch against Los Pumas at Eden Park this weekend. We also put some perspective into the reason behind so many empty seats at Sky Stadium. We also pick through the highlights of the opening round of the NPC and Farah Palmer Cup, the Springboks win over the Wallabies and Twickenham's surprising name...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier return from a week off to talk the Black Ferns Sevens' gold medal in Paris and how to try and solve the men's Sevens issues at the Olympics. We dig into the All Blacks squad for the Rugby Championship ahead of this weekend's test against Argentina, debate some contract news for the All Blacks and ask the question... is Antoine Dupont the GOAT? Plus plenty more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier discuss Ardie Savea's bombshell Super Rugby switch from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika and the implications for him as well as both franchises before we dig into the All Blacks third test of the year against Fiji in San Diego. We also rank the All Blacks halfbacks, discuss the chances of gold medals for the sevens sides at the Olympics and whether the NZ U20s finishing third is a positive result, as well as an assessment of Wallabies...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier wrap the second test against England and discuss the All Blacks' game plan - or seeming lack thereof, as well as the impact of Beauden Barrett, line-out struggles and how they might line up against Fiji in San Diego. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier assess the first All Blacks' test of the 'new era' and a tight win over England under the roof in Dunedin. We assess who stood out and where the improvements will need to be made for the second test in Auckland on Saturday. We also run the rule over the other test matches around the globe over the weekend and reveal some battle scars of our own from Dunedin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier put forward their arguments for the first All Blacks team of the year and how the first test against England will be won and lost. We also hear from England coach Steve Borthwick and assess the standouts from the Maori All Blacks first hitout under new coach Ross Filipo. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier are in Christchurch following the All Blacks squad announcement and reflect on the five new names in the squad of 32, as well as the big omissions from the group including Hoskins Sotutu and Ruben Love. We also hear from All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan and uncapped prop Pasilio Tosi. We also dig into a dominant Blues performance in the Super Rugby final against the Chiefs, that ended their 24 year drought. See...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier review the Super Rugby semi-finals as the Blues and Chiefs advance to Saturday night's decider, at the expense of the Brumbies and top-seeded Hurricanes. We also chat with Kevin Malloy, the Super Rugby Pacific board chair to review the season and discuss the future shape of the competition. And with the All Blacks squad days away from being named, we give our respective 32-man squads we think will be named next week. See...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier assess the four Super Rugby quarter-finals from the weekend and say farewell to the Rebels (for good) and the Highlanders, Drua and Reds for this season. We also look ahead to the semis and assess what Patrick Tuipulotu's injury means for the All Blacks this year, as well as reflect on the departure of Akira Ioane to Japan after this season. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier wrap a big week of rugby, beginning with the final round of the Super Rugby regular season and the quarter-finalists being set and the Crusaders missing the top 8 for the first time since 2015. We also dig deep into the news the Melbourne Rebels will be axed at the conclusion of their current campaign, while NZR's governance has come and gone and there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier count down to the crunch governance vote that will shape New Zealand Rugby, assess the fortunes of the Black Ferns and wrap up the penultimate round of Super Rugby. We also dive into the new reports around the Springboks-All Blacks tours from 2026 and look back at a wild week for Rob Penney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elliott and Liam catch up with legendary All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith on a range of topics after the completion of his first season playing for Japanese club Toyota Verblitz. We reflect on Aaron's All Blacks career, his first season in Japan, the successors to him at halfback for the All Blacks, the continuing eligibility saga in New Zealand Rugby and the special plan he has for some of his jersey collection. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier break down the news around Sam Cane's departure from New Zealand Rugby after this year and who leads the race to be both captain and openside flanker for the All Blacks in 2024. We dig into the weekend that was in Super Rugby, with the Blues taking another step towards top seeding and we analyse a shock Black Ferns defeat to Canada. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier run through the reaction from their interview with Chris Lendrum, specifically the desire to bring Richie Mo'unga back to new Zealand Rugby sooner rather than later. We dig into the Blues going top of the ladder after denying the Hurricanes at Eden Park, as well as more questions on the Crusaders front after the Highlanders taught them a lesson or two under the roof in Dunedin. We also dig into the Black Ferns and New Zealand...

On a special edition of Rugby Direct, Elliott Smith and Liam Napier catch up with New Zealand Rugby's general manager - professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum, canvassing a range of rugby topics. We delve into how his job has changed over time, sabbaticals and whether contracting is working the right way for New Zealand rugby, whether players will be selected from offshore in the next while, the future of Super Rugby and NPC, the Olympics and plenty more across nearly an hour. See...