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.
76
Games of the Week 20 – Undisputed Underdogs
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the First Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – and the first round of the other big ticket annual series in Test rugby is here which means it’s an easy pick for GotWs this week, with two cracking contests to kick off the southern hemisphere’s premier tournament on either side of the Tasman Sea.
23 min
77
Ep.26 – Under Pressure with Paul Cully
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Stuff.co.nz Senior Sportswriter, and SMH rugby columnist Paul Cully to dig deep into the narratives and the four squads as selected for The Rugby Championship, and to try and work out where the Wallabies, Springboks, All Blacks, and Los Pumas are placed heading into the first round of the premiere southern hemisphere international rugby tournament.
68 min
78
Ep.25 – One More Angle with Brett Cronan
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Australian and World Rugby Television Match Official Brett Cronan, to help peel back the layers on how the TMO works in professional rugby, and thus help us all learn a thing or two about part of the game we experience every week, but perhaps still don’t fully appreciate.
64 min
79
Games of the Week 19 – What Have we Learned?
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with a special edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – with The Rugby Championship starting very soon, the guys take a look back at the July Internationals and discuss once and for all what we now know about the four TRC sides, and what we should expect when the Southern Hemisphere’s premier Test Match tournament begins on August 10.
23 min
80
Ep.24 – Chasing the Sun with Gareth Whittaker
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Director and Producer of brilliant Springboks documentary series, Chasing the Sun, Gareth Whittaker, the man behind the twin series which documented the ‘Boks rise in world rugby and culminating in the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup triumphs.
63 min
81
Test Match post-mortem 2 – World-leading Wallab...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones love Test Match Rugby, and what better way to consume the international game than to launch into the post-mortem straight after the final siren. This week, the fulltime focus takes in New Zealand’s 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego, and Australia’s 40-29 win over Georgia in Sydney.
24 min
82
Games of the Week 18 – Equine Excuses with Bern...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another international edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys are again joined former Ireland hooker turned commentator and pundit Bernard Jackman – direct from Ireland Olympic team duties - for one last look back at lessons learned from the July Internationals, and the importance of the long list of rugby Internationals featuring the so-called Tier 2 nations this weekend.
40 min
83
Ep.23 – Grownups with Charlie Morgan
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones welcome back onto The 8-9 Combo Senior Rugby Writer for The Telegraph, Charlie Morgan to cast an eye back on the second week of July Internationals in the southern hemisphere, and consider the broader implications of this important week where so-called Tier 2 nations are hosted around the rugby world.
59 min
84
Test Match post-mortem 1 – Unbeaten!
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones love Test Match Rugby, and what better way to consume the international game than to react to it straight after the final siren. This week, the fulltime focus takes in New Zealand’s bruising 24-17 win over England in Auckland, and Australia’s workmanlike 36-28 win over Wales in Melbourne.
19 min
85
Games of the Week 17 - Swingprops
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another international edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the second weekend of July Internationals in the southern hemisphere, including previews of the big ticket series.
26 min
86
Ep.22 – False Countdowns with Sam Larner
55 min
87
Games of the Week 16 - Horsecollaring
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the first International edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the first chocka-block weekend of Test Match Rugby in the southern hemisphere, including previews of the big ticket series openers, and even bigger jersey collars.
24 min
88
Ep.21 – Rebuilding the Strategy with Daniel Her...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Rugby Australia Chair Daniel Herbert for an open and frank discussion that outlines the delicate position the game finds itself in Australia – and how really transformative the next decade can be.
66 min
89
Ep.20 – Robbed of Points with Sam Windsor
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Australia’s Major League Rugby record points-scorer and Seattle Seawolves flyhalf/fullback Sam Windsor, to get a true insight into the quality gains in MLR since it was founded in 2017, and how life works for a professional rugby player in the United States.
74 min
90
Games of the Week 15 – Vikings are Shrinking
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with a bumper edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through plenty of important games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world, including the Finals of Super Rugby Pacific and the United Rugby Championship.
25 min
91
Ep.19 – Gone to the Birds with Andrew Kellaway
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by now-former Melbourne Rebels, and Wallabies fullback Andrew Kellaway in that small post-Super Rugby Pacific window and before things really step up properly through the international season, with the Wales series now less than three weeks away.
61 min
92
Games of the Week 14 – Semi Finals, baby
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through all the crucial games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend.
21 min
93
Ep.18 – Alter Egos with Jamie Wall
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by muckraking New Zealand sportswriter, author, and social media stirrer Jamie Wall, to get into where the four Super Rugby Pacific Quarter Finals were won and lost this weekend just gone.
59 min
94
Games of the Week 13 – Toaster in the Bath
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through plenty of important games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend.
20 min
95
Ep.17 – It’s Cake Enough with Ox Nche
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok and Challenge Cup-winning Shark prop, and worldwide cake aficionado Ox Nche for another great rugby chat as we head to the pointy end of competitions around the world.
65 min
96
Games of the Week 12 – Live from the Carpark
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend.
15 min
97
Ep.16 – Fully Charged Batteries with Harry Wilson
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by barnstorming Queensland backrower Harry Wilson, with the Reds confirmed to a 5th place finish in 2024 before this weekend’s final round, and playing the kind of rugby they hope can take them deep into the Super Rugby Pacific finals series.
64 min
98
Games of the Week 11 – Declaration of Intent wi...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined by renowned Irish pundit and commentator Bernard Jackman for their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, with this week’s focus on London and the Champions Cup Final between Leinster and Toulouse, as well as the Challenge Cup Final between Gloucester and the Sharks.
34 min
99
Ep.15 – Magic of Melbourne with Kevin Foote
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Melbourne Rebels head coach Kevin Foote, for an open and honest and at times raw conversation that attempts to explain a team playing good rugby under the clouds of a club in Administration.
70 min
100
Games of the Week 10 – Penultimate Bizarre High...
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend.
18 min