The Good, The Bad & The Rugby

Another quiet week in the world of rugby… The RFU dropped a bombshell when they announced plans to lower the legal tackle height in the amateur game from the shoulder line to the waist line; cue uproar from every corner... So, Tinds & Alex sat down to tackle the debate. They hash through the stats, data and views from across the game, with The Head of Game Development at the RFU, John Lawn to find out how and why the decision has been made. They’re also joined by Paul Milham and former Leicester Tiger, James Buckland, who’re both from Aylesbury RFC, one of hundreds of clubs who’ll be affected by the announcement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex, Hask and Shane Horgan take a deep dive into the Heineken Champions Cup. How did a competition once viewed as the pinnacle of the northern hemisphere club game lose its lustre? What should it look like in the future? Should it stay traditional or become something completely new, like cricket's The Hundred? Joining them are the head coach of reigning European champions La Rochelle - and all round legend - Ronan O'Gara and the former Wasps Head Coach, and now Scarlets Backs and Skills coach, Lee Blackett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eddie Jones joins Hask and Alex to talk about his new role as Australia Head Coach. He also explains why he knew he was going to be sacked from his role with England, the effect it had on him and the prospect of the two sides matching up at the World Cup. We also hear from Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan on why he thinks Jones is the best coach in the world and their aims over the next 5 years as they approach two World Cups and a Lions Tour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2022 was a massive year for rugby in England, the sport’s having a tough old time off the pitch, so Hask and Alex invited themselves to Twickenham for a coffee with the big dogs; the CEOs of the PRL and the RFU, Simon Massie-Taylor and Bill Sweeney. The boys manage to peel back the curtain of the goings on in the corridors of power, learn about the men behind the jobs, as well as Eddie’s dismissal, Borthwick’s ascension, Wasps & Worcester and the future of domestic rugby from the prem to grassroots. They talk Championship, Red Roses, Prem 15s, marketing, investment, sponsorship, broadcast deals and the global calendar… strap yourself in for a whistle stop tour of the problems and solutions in the game, as Bill & Simon see it. There’s no stone left unturned in this extended show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Starting as we mean to go on, the boys catch up with the All Blacks record cap-holder and stand-in skipper; super Sam Whitelock. Payno and Hask get into New Zealand’s rollercoaster year & ask what was really going on as they lost 4 in 5 games. We find out about the Whitelock rugby dynasty and his own amazing rise from club rugby to the iconic black jersey in just 12 months. We get the low-down on some of his illustrious teammates, the story behind a rather strange photo with a former Prime Minister of New Zealand & Sam reveals an unlikely hidden talent that blows the boys away. Oh, and Hask goes full fanboy & recalls the time he crashed their 2015 World Cup winning celebration party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join the lads for one of the best nights of their live theatre tour, earlier this year; Cardiff with Scott Quinnell. The boys are aware they’re on Scott’s home turf, with the crowd on his side, so fireworks between Hask and SQ are inevitable. Rugby league, Wigan, the Lions, Jason Robinson, Shaun Edwards and the dynasty of legendary rugby players that makes up Scott’s family are all for discussion. Hask also relives how he almost donned a Wales shirt, Tinds remembers how he once ran out for Llanelli and they both recall the glory days (and embarrassing days) at a hostile Principality Stadium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to another shambles of a Christmas special as the boys are in the studio with their Blackeye gin to look back on the year personally and in rugby and ahead to 2023 in which one of the team reckons France will bottle it in their own World Cup. Tinds talks about a heavy week or so down under after his jungle experience, we see the return of 'Japan Alex' as Hask and Tinds go to town on him after one G&T too many and we find out about Hask's stand-up escapades, would he jack it all in to be a comic - you bet he would if the cash was right! We also find out the amount it would take for Hask never to speak publicly again - a crowdfunding page has already been set up! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BONUS Episode: After his appearance on the show earlier this week Payno sat down with the brilliant Wayne Barnes to find out about the man behind the whistle. We find out his favourite ground and his childhood hero, if he still gets nervous and why Richie McCaw and John Smit are the best players he's refereed. We hear of a 'Tea Tour' around Samoa with the late great Peter Fatailofa (it wasn't tea they were drinking!) and about Wayne's love for musicals and amateur dramatics! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just weeks after THAT game in France and THOSE tweets from Rassie Erasmus the brilliant Wayne Barnes joins Payno and Ben Kayser to talk about the backlash on social media in the aftermath of that Springbok defeat and how it's affected him and his family. He reveals that he cancelled the planned half-time celebration at Twickenham in recogonition of his 101 caps and whether he wants to carry on being a referee or not (SPOILER: He does!). It's not all serious though, we find out what his karaoke song is, if his picture is still in a New Zealand urinal and how he and his team escaped from the Principality after the World Cup QF win by France over the All Blacks in 2007. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lord of the Jungle, Tinds has returned from Australia so we had to get his thoughts on a tumultuous 10 days or so in English rugby with the Eddie Jones' sacking. In the 3rd of our GB&R: The Breakdown Tinds reveals why he thinks Jones was sacked, Hask is still fighting in Eddie's corner and Payno explains why we didn't have the counter balance to David Pembroke on last week's explosive show. Hask gets on his soapbox (again...) to rant about the media and Payno crunches the numbers, almost sending the boys into a spin! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices