Episodes
Kooks and Shaun talk about the opening episode of Chasing The Sun 2 as all South Africans relive the amazing RWC2023 win with incredible insights from the Springbok camp
Published 03/27/24
Published 03/27/24
Shaun and Thala review round 12 of the URC which saw all 4 South African teams win their matches. We first look at the Stormers victory over Edinburgh and Shaun (who watched live) raved about how good Damian Willemse looks live and the encouraging signs from Wandi Simelane’s performance. For the Sharks game, Thala discusses whether the Sharks have finally found the right formula of Boks and youngsters in their team, how impressive Ethan Hooker is and why Makazole Mapimpi is a South African...
Published 03/27/24
Thala and Kooks look back at the 6 Nations, the winners and losers from the tournament
Published 03/20/24
Shaun and Kooks are joined by a surprise guest as we discuss the 6 Nations and Super Rugby shock results. This weeks first phase we discuss what song our favorite players would run out too. In the Six Nations we discuss if England have recipe to beat Ireland, Gregor Townsend is on the chopping block and how incredible the Italian midfield was.
Published 03/14/24
Kooks, Shaun and Thala are joined by SA rugby Twitter bad boy AP Cronje to review the South African derbies in week 11 of the URC. We first react to the Bulls breaking their seven match losing streak against the Stormers with a convincing win at Loftus. AP breaks down how the Bulls have improved this season, we discuss why Johan Goosen should always wear his Grey College socks and whether the Stormers should start to worry now that they’re outside of the playoffs. We then move to the Lions...
Published 03/07/24
Kooks and Shaun go through the weekends rugby and start the pod with picking 15’s players suitable for the 7’s game, Ireland and the war machine, Duhan suitable for the Boks and mixed feelings about Italy’s final penalty
Published 03/01/24
We welcome back Jared Wright as he returns at the perfect time as we discuss the Springboks and all the rugby going on.
Published 02/22/24
Shaun and Thala review week 2 of the Six Nations. We start at the controversial no try call at the end of Scotland v France and debate whether the officials got it right. We also discuss why all the Scotland losses against the better teams all feel the same and whether France played a lot better than most give them credit. Moving onto England v Wales, we look at the positives for the young Wales team for as they fought to a narrow loss in Twickenham and we discuss what are the other...
Published 02/15/24
Francisco Isaac joins us again as Thala and Shaun pick his brain about the  2024 REC after two rounds, red cards and all the South Africans involved
Published 02/14/24
Kooks, Shaun and Thala review the first round of the Six Nations which saw 3 away wins. We start by discussing the player, try and moment of the round with love being shown for Joe McCarthy’s performance and the Duhan van der Merwe try among others. We begin by reviewing Ireland’s dominant victory over France. We look at how Ireland shut the French out, the big performance of Jack Crowley, the failures in France’s rucking and kicking, and how much the Paul Willemse red card is to...
Published 02/07/24
We certainly run out of time but Francisco takes us through a bit of the weekends action, talk about the tournament format and the disruption in teams due to coaching changes along with everyone waiting on World Rugby to confirm RWC2027 qualification. Francisco talks warmly about the retiring Rayner Parkinson from Germany and a look at his career #SaffasAbroad
Published 02/07/24
Kooks, Shaun and Thala come together for a comprehensive preview of the 2024 Six Nations which starts this weekend. We look through each team and the changes made to the squads since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, we discuss the players we are looking forward to seeing and what a pass mark will be for each team. Which team do we think will win the Grand Slam and which surprising team do we think Wales will get the wooden spoon from Italy? Who do we think will be the Six Nations Player of the...
Published 01/31/24
Thala and Shaun review the weekends Champions Cup action. They talk about the Sharks...AGAIN and have a look at the Round of 16 fixtures. We pick our winners to go through to the Quarter Finals try and unpack what is going on with the Sharks, Owen Farrell and how the Bulls and Stormers nearly slipped up. Enjoy
Published 01/23/24
Kooks and Shaun get 2024 underway as they take a look at the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup action from the weekend. We talk Finn, Antoine, Damian, Hacjivah and much more. We then dive into what 2024 will bring and a look at contenders for the Springbok jersey as well as what this year will bring for France, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, England and more.
Published 01/17/24
Kooks, Shaun and Thala record their last pod of 2023, mainly looking back at the second weekend of Champions and Challenge Cup and wrapping up a massive year for rugby. We start with the Stormers smash and grab win over the champs La Rochelle. Kooks talks about almost taking a photo with Jonathan Danty. Shaun has questions about the balance of the loose trio. Thala talks about the experience of watching Levani Botia and Will Skelton live. We then look at the narrow Bulls loss at Lyon and...
Published 12/20/23
Shaun and Thala review the first round of Champions Cup and Challenge Cup games - a weekend of mostly positive results and performances for the South African teams. We start with the Bulls dominant win over Saracens at Loftus. We discuss Cameron Hanekom’s rise as the next big thing in South Africa rugby and the dangerous Bulls back 3. We then go to Welford Road where a mostly second string Stormers outfit nearly shocked Leicester at home. There were encouraging performances from three likes...
Published 12/14/23
We’re back baby and we get this new season off with Thala, Shaun and Kooks chatting about what’s going on. Shaun and Kooks avoid the Sharks problems, Thala is basking in the Bulls victories. We take a hard look at fans and why the likes of Owen Farrell are putting their international career on pause. We take a look at the Champions Cup Round 1 fixtures and wonder where Wandi Simelane should go
Published 12/06/23
Kooks, Shaun and Thala deal with their Rugby World Cup hangovers by looking at each of the top RWC teams to discuss where do they go from here. Listen as we discuss the Springboks coaching situation, what the All Blacks will do at flyhalf, what France can do to be less Dupont-dependent, who England should build around in the next four-year cycle, what the Proteas could possibly teach Ireland and why Rugby Australia should call Ronan O’Gara.
Published 11/14/23
Kooks, Shaun and Thala break down South Africa retaining the Rugby World Cup after their 12-11 victory against New Zealand. The gents start by marveling at Pieter-Steph du Toit’s man of the match performance and Kooks talks about his attempt to commemorate his performance. We then break down the Springbok defensive performance, the impact of Kwagga Smith, where the All Blacks went wrong, the key moments in the game and how Wayne Barnes and the officiating team handled big decisions such as...
Published 11/01/23
The full squad are all here to preview the biggest Rugby World Cup Final ever. Jared, Kooks, Shaun and Thala react to the match day 23s selected by the two teams, the impact of the 7:1 Springbok bench will seek to have, how the All Blacks will counter Ox Nche and Trevor Nyakane, the importance of starts and the kicking game and the most important players on both sides. We also discuss the significance of this Final, how crappy the 3rd/4th place playoff game is, what crime Luke Pearce must...
Published 10/27/23
Shaun and Thala are joined by Distracted Sports’ Tony O’Sullivan to debate selections and to get a Kiwi take on Saturday’s Rugby World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand. Tony shares the stress he has thinking about Ox Nche, why Dane Coles and Willie le Roux have similar roles in the team, the luxury of rotating between Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick and why Fletcher Newell might be the star of the final. Listen also for Tony’s unexpected review of the RugbyBits intro music too!
Published 10/25/23
Shaun and Thala are joined by Jamie Wall of Radio New Zealand to preview the All Blacks for the Rugby World Cup final.  Jamie discusses why some of the changes in selection for the All Blacks in 2022 happened more through chance than by design. The influence of Joe Schmidt and Jason (not James, Thala) Ryan as coaches. Why Rieko Ioane gets a bad wrap for his defence at 13. The influence of rugby league in how the All Blacks attack and what the All Blacks will try to do against the...
Published 10/25/23
Thala leads the team along with Kooks and Shaun as they unpack just how the Springboks wangled their way into the RWC2023 Final.   We look at how brilliant England were but were just not able to hold on. Clutch Handre and other great substitutes that lifted the Springbok game.   A look at the All Blacks and their big in over Argentina plus we already are looking ahead to the Final and pick some key players and head to heads to watch
Published 10/24/23
Shaun and and Kooks welcome back Charlie Morgan to the RugbyBits Podcast as we take a look through the Match Day 23’s announced. We deep dive the plan needed for sides to win and a look at key players and what to expect from England
Published 10/19/23