The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast
Harry Jones, the grizzly old no.8, and Brett McKay, the unremarkable schoolboy no.9, unite for the short-side set-piece combination you didn't realise you needed in a rugby podcast.
A couple of hosts who came together on a whim in 2022 have become arguably the best - and maybe the only - South African-American-Australian rugby podcast combination in the rugby world, blending the perfect combination of passion, humour, nonsense, and genuine insight. Tune in every week to find out where on earth Harry is podding from, and how on earth Brett keeps it all flowing as they enjoy great rugby chats with an incredible array of guests.
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Ep.42 - Replacing the Snake with Patrick McCarry
Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Irish sportswriter and playwright Patrick McCarry to look back over the final full weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, and then to cast an eye forward to the final international fixture for 2024 this weekend coming, when Ireland host Australia at the Aviva in Dublin this Saturday.
59 min
52
Test Match post-mortem 12 – Murrayfield Maul Ch...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones jump into another Test Match post-mortem without much thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on Scotland’s gritty 27-13 win over Australia at a chilly Murrayfield in Edinburgh, the wrap up the final full weekend of Northern Spring Autumn Series Tours.
25 min
53
Games of the Week 33 – Best be Frontrunners
Brett McKay and Harry Jones lay out the Games of the Week for the final full weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tours, the last chance for the Home Nations to save something from the November Tests, and for the southern hemisphere nations to reinforce their claims of global rugby domination.
28 min
54
Ep.41 – Giving Every Ounce with Dan McKellar
Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by incoming New South Wales Waratahs coach Dan McKellar, who has put the disappointment of how his Leicester Tigers gig ended, the strong links to his native Queensland, and his storied history with the ACT Brumbies all behind him to get on with the job of restoring the Waratahs to the force Australian rugby needs them to be.
69 min
55
Test Match post-mortem 11 – Greatest Win of All...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones jump into another Test Match post-mortem without much thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on France’s patient 30-29 win over New Zealand in Paris, and South Africa’s well-in-hand 29-20 win over England at Twickenham.
28 min
56
Games of the Week 32 – Itching in the Loafers
Brett McKay and Harry Jones lay out the Games of the Week for the second full weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, where the Home Nations in particular will be seeking responses after all suffering losses of varying degrees of hurt the previous round.
31 min
57
Ep.40 – No Lamb Curries with Charlie Morgan
Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by The Telegraph’s senior rugby writer Charlie Morgan to look back over the first full weekend of matches of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, with New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Fiji and South Africa all recording wins in a sweep of southern hemisphere dominance.
70 min
58
Test Match post-mortem 10 – Joseph & the Techni...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones rip into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on the Wallabies absolutely stunning 42-37 comeback win over England at Twickenham, as well as looking back at New Zealand’s 23-13 win over Ireland in Dublin on Friday night
35 min
59
Games of the Week 31 – Something Out of the Can...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones push Games of the Week deep into the second week of the November Internationals, where they welcome Australian rugby writer for RugbyPass and The Roar, John Ferguson, along for a proper preview look at the biggest Test Matches of the weekend.
38 min
60
Ep.39 – Facing the Music with Rob Kitson
Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by The Guardian rugby correspondent and surprise new music reviewer (true!) Rob Kitson for a proper review of the first weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, in which New Zealand held out England 24-22 at Twickenham, and Scotland were too good for Fiji, winning 57-17 at Murrayfield.
57 min
61
Test Match post-mortem 9 – Ford Misfires, Macca...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on a fantastic opening to the Autumn Nations Series where New Zealand have hung on – just – to beat England 24-22 at Twickenham.
27 min
62
Games of the Week 30 - the Northern Spring Autu...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones switch Games of the Week back into international mode for the start of the November Internationals, where the guys set, manage, and temper expectations for the SANZAAR nations, as they work out best and worst case scenarios for South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina from their Northern or Spring Tours, or Autumn Nations Series, or whatever we’re calling this next month of Test rugby.
28 min
63
Ep.38 – Defeat of the Consultants with Tony Joh...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by legendary New Zealand Sky Sport broadcaster and author Tony Johnson to wrap up a thoroughly enjoyable season of NZ’s National Provincial Championship, including the Final decided in OT on Saturday in Wellington, while also looking back and forward at the start of the All Blacks northern tour in Japan and with four Tests to follow in Europe.
61 min
64
Games of the Week 29 – The Winner Takes it All
Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, including the NPC Final in New Zealand, and the first of the November internationals a week early, with the All Blacks having a stopover in Japan. And Harry attempts to bring ABBA into the equation…
19 min
65
Ep.37 – Sua’ali’i will save rugby and all Law V...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones go it alone on The 8-9 Combo this week, delving into a couple of topics they’ve wanted to cover off in a bit of detail: the introduction of new and not-so-new Law Variations into the Autumn Nations Series this November, and the arrival and expected impact of high profile league convert and schoolboy rugby prodigy Joseph Sua’ali’i into Australian Rugby and the Wallabies.
63 min
66
Games of the Week 28 – #JerseyTalk
Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, before launching into comprehensive and definitive rulings on the best and worst jerseys running around in the Premiership, the URC, and the Top 14 in season 2024/2025.
25 min
67
Ep.36 – Goal-kicking Mechanics with ‘Rocketfoot...
Brett McKay and Harry Jones get super technical on The 8-9 Combo this week, getting right into the sweet spot of goal-kicking with South African rugby and American football kicking coach and consultant, Wihan van der Riet, founder and professional coach with his Rocketfoot Academy.
69 min
68
Games of the Week 27 – Random Calls in Leicester
Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend.
21 min
69
Ep.35 – Couple of French Wingers with James Sli...
57 min
70
Games of the Week 26 – What Have We Learned fro...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back to take a look back at The Rugby Championship for 2024 and discuss once and for all what we have learned about the four SANZAAR national teams from this tournament, and what it might mean for the November internationals in the northern hemisphere.
32 min
71
Ep.34 – Fake Ceilings with Jared Wright
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Plante Rugby writer and connoisseur of stadium security dominant tackles, Jared Wright, for a full look back on South Africa’s thumping of Argentina to wrap up The Rugby Championship for 2024, and what has really made this Springbok team so dominant on their way to their first southern hemisphere title since 2019.
57 min
72
Test Match post-mortem 8 – Weird Welly-Wonka
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on another weird and curious Bledisloe Cup contest in Wellington, where the All Blacks overcame some first half issues to put the Wallabies away 33-13.
27 min
73
Games of the Week 25 – Sick of Insolvency
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the final Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, coming after a weekend where the guys survived each other’s close companies, and have emerged out the other side to explore the final weekend of Test rugby in the southern hemisphere for 2024.
30 min
74
Ep.33 – Familiar Frustrations with Liam Napier
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by New Zealand Herald Chief Sportswriter Liam Napier for a trans-Tasman deep-dive into the surprisingly tight first Bledisloe Test of the year in Sydney on the weekend just gone, and what is now likely to eventuate in the return bout in Wellington this weekend coming.
60 min
75
Test Match post-mortem 7 – Wanted: Good Startin...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on a surprisingly entertaining and tight contest between Australia and New Zealand in the first Bledisloe Cup Test of the year in Sydney.
27 min