In another deeply upsetting week, the All Blacks blew their chance to square the Greatest Rivalry Series at 2–2 and were instead wholly and completely beaten by the Springboks, who deservedly wrapped things up 3–1.

Much to our disappointment and dismay, the right team won.

Despite what some might call a few 50–50 calls. Were they really 50–50 calls, though? Or is Tony just a bit sour? Who knows, really.

Anyway, we go deep on the final Test, assess where both squads are at, lick our wounds, talk some bullshit, and then finally look beyond the Greatest Rivalry Series at what else is happening in the wonderful world of rugby.

Hopefully, at some point soon, we can stop making thumbnails with sad faces. Getting a bit sick of this.

Grab a beer and enjoy.

Thanks to Severn River Rugby Football Club for the beers.

https://www.severnriverrugby.org/

One of the most depressing weeks we’ve ever had to record Two Cents Gets Distracted.

Soak it up, Springbok fans. Your team was better. You won the series in South Africa, and we are very, very sad.

Despite a pretty decent effort from the All Blacks and a cracking start, the Springboks eventually proved their class — particularly at set piece, where we had absolutely no answers.

And then came the moment.

Will Jordan scores. For a few glorious seconds, we tasted hope. Joy. Possibility.

Then it all turned to ashes in our mouths as we sat through perhaps the most painful 15 minutes of Springbok dominance imaginable, watching them completely take the game away from us.

So, naturally, we talk about it. We unload. We grieve. We attempt to process what happened. It is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.

We also cover Argentina vs Australia — a draw that, from Tony’s perspective at least, was pretty hard to get too excited about after everything we’d just witnessed.

And a massive thanks to Four Paws for sponsoring the NPC segment. What an absolute champion that bloke is.

Grab a beer, Springbok fans enjoy our sadness, and let’s get into it.

Masiev thanks Again to 4paws!!

A very sad week in the 2CGD household as the Springboks get up and beat the All Blacks in Test Two of the greatest rivalry in rugby.

And, annoyingly, it was an absolute cracker.

Two contrasting styles, two heavyweight teams going at each other, and another reminder of exactly why this rivalry is so bloody good. Unfortunately, this one didn’t go our way, which leaves the series locked at 1–1 and sets up a massive, mouth-watering Game Three — the unofficial decider at FNB Stadium in the Republic.

Far more important, obviously, than that little moneymaker happening in Baltimore.

We go deep on the second Test: where it was won and lost, what the Boks did well, what the All Blacks will be kicking themselves about, and what needs to change ahead of the big one.

Tony also goes on a completely calm and measured rant about the outrage surrounding Dave Rennie having the sheer audacity to mention something to the media. We certainly can’t think of any other international rugby coach whose name begins with R who might occasionally use the media to apply a little pressure…

Cough cough, Rassie. Cough cough.

We also touch on the Lions v All Blacks opportunity that popped up during the week, start building toward the enormous third Test, and — because we’re nothing if not thorough — try not to completely forget about our friends in Australia and Argentina.

The Wallabies are quietly putting together something resembling a winning streak. What a time to be alive.

It’s a bit of a doozy.

Grab a beer, settle in, and enjoy.

The first block of the Nations Championship is done, and the All Blacks—much to our delight—finally played like bloody All Blacks.

For 40 glorious minutes at Eden Park, they were all over a slightly flailing Irish side. Ireland fought their way back into it after halftime, but putting 41 points on them and winning by 19 is a bloody good result. More importantly, it gives us a little bit of—keyword—optimism heading into the Greatest Rivalry Series.

Speaking of which, the Boks—or the B-Boks, C-Boks, or whatever version of the Boks was rolled out this week—put Wales away without too much trouble. South African fans weren’t exactly thrilled by the dropped ball and generally ordinary-looking performance, but they still won 43–0, and that scrum somehow looks even more terrifying than ever.

So, naturally, we dive into the All Blacks–Springboks rivalry and start looking ahead to the series we’ve all been waiting for. Tony throws a little chum into the water, so try not to bite too hard. It’s all banter at the end of the day. Probably. Rassie is definitely in our heads.

Elsewhere, Australia gave Joe Schmidt a fitting send-off by dominating Italy, Fiji scored some absolutely ridiculous tries despite losing to Scotland, and England and Argentina appeared to cram an entire year’s worth of yellow cards into one fiery, chaotic match.

Coming on the back of the spicy England–Argentina Football World Cup semifinal, the whole thing felt suitably hostile, slightly unhinged and, eventually, pretty entertaining.

We cover all of that, talk plenty of rugby and sprinkle in the usual amount of bullshit.

There’s no episode next week, but after the break, we’re going deep into South African content as the Greatest Rivalry Series finally arrives.

Grab a beer and enjoy.

Two Cents Gets Distracted – Greatest Rivalry Series Preview

In a week where the hype is about as hyped as it can possibly be, the speculation is about as speculative as it can possibly be, and our bullshit talking is about as bullshit as it can possibly be… we are finally here.

We sit on the precipice of one of the biggest rugby events in recent memory — more than 30 years in the making — as Test One of the Greatest Rivalry Series: All Blacks vs South Africa is about to kick off.

The All Blacks arrive after three relatively straightforward outings against South African opposition. There was a bit of a wobble against the Stormers early doors, but the Sharks and Bulls were dispatched without too much drama.

So… should New Zealand be feeling confident?

Or has Rassie Erasmus been playing 4D chess again, deliberately lulling the All Blacks into a false sense of security? Were the South African franchises mysteriously instructed not to box kick so the All Blacks wouldn't get any proper preparation?

Conspiracy theories? Absolutely.

Any chance we actually know what we're talking about? Probably not.

Then there are the Boks themselves — back-to-back world champions, as they very much enjoy reminding everybody, over and over and over again.

They've been relatively quiet, relatively private, but now it's all starting to come to the fore. Are they slightly undercooked? Could there be some rust after their last showing against Argentina? Or was the evil mastermind Rassie simply keeping his powder dry for the series that really matters?

The bullshit is high. The speculation is higher. And the hype is very, very real.

And it's about to get even more real.

Grab a beer and enjoy.

A massive thank you to metal's greatest band, Sorcerot, for sponsoring the podcast. Go check out their album Rotten Magic at the link below, and tell them you were sent by the good fellas at Two Cents Gets Distracted.. Go here to here their awesome Album Rotten Magick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiWye7-B2es&list=RDLiWye7-B2es&start_radio=1&t=1318s

Week two of the Nations Championship delivered some incredible rugby, some average rugby, a few near-upsets, several glorious “could-have-beens,” and more than a handful of “why now?” and “why on earth are they playing there?” moments.

The All Blacks kicked things off against Italy in a match we were desperately hoping would be the moment Dave Rennie’s new team finally clicked. That may be a little demanding in only week two, but they certainly didn’t click during a fairly shambolic opening 40 minutes.

Things improved dramatically for about 15 minutes in the second half, when New Zealand suddenly piled on the points and eventually cruised to a 30-point victory. Will Jordan scored his 50th Test try, reaching the mark faster than any All Black before him, while Anton Segner made his long-awaited debut and Moby provided a tidy little cameo off the bench in his first Test as well.

Australia then produced a genuinely excellent first half against France, followed by an absolute dog-shit second half against France. What began as a hugely encouraging performance became another deeply deflating evening for Wallabies supporters around the world.

Ireland faced Japan in that famous fortress of Japanese rugby: Newcastle, Australia.

Why Newcastle, Australia, you may ask? Excellent question. Apparently Ireland didn’t fancy travelling to Japan, pushed their weight around and got their way. Japan made the match considerably tighter than expected, but Ireland eventually showed their class and pulled away.

England absolutely pumped Fiji, while the game of the round may have come in South Africa, where Scotland the Brave were once again incredibly brave.

The Springboks may not have fielded their absolute strongest side, but they were still expected to dominate. Instead, Scotland pushed them far closer than the final score suggests. With a little more clinical finishing, a bit more composure near the line and perhaps slightly more defence, this genuinely could have been the day Scotland finally won in the Republic.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be.

This week’s beers were kindly supplied by the great Andrew Stark from Tempo Rehab. Check out his work at temporehab.com and have a look at the Tempo Rehab YouTube channel as well. https://www.youtube.com/@tempo_rehab

Grab a beer and enjoy.

A weekend of pumpings.

Leinster pumped the Bulls in Ireland to claim the URC title. Our friends the Hurricanes looked incredible and gale-forced their way to a totally, utterly, humiliating pumping of the Chiefs in a frankly silly 60–50 loss. And in what is usually a bit of a laugh, the Barbarians taking on South Africa in the Republic looked slightly less like a laugh this time, as the Baa-Baas also received a reasonably serious pumping.

So if you were in dire need of some tight rugby, like some of us were, this was absolutely not the weekend for you.

That brings the domestic season to a close, with a little sprinkling of international flavour thrown in. But maybe the biggest story of the week eclipsed all of that: Dave Rennie naming his inaugural All Blacks squad.

Four new names were included, perhaps none more interesting than Anton Segner. The German-born loose forward came to New Zealand as a 15 or 16-year-old on what was basically a student exchange, and now, ten years later, he’s in the All Blacks. Quite an incredible story — especially after standing out in a poorly performing Blues outfit like a diamond in a sea of poo.

Stop it.

Also, a massive thanks to Allouran for the wine. We appreciate it very, very much.

Grab a beer and enjoy. Or, in this case, maybe a wine.

A weekend of pumpings.

Leinster pumped the Bulls in Ireland to claim the URC title. Our friends the Hurricanes looked incredible and gale-forced their way to a totally, utterly, humiliating pumping of the Chiefs in a frankly silly 60–50 loss. And in what is usually a bit of a laugh, the Barbarians taking on South Africa in the Republic looked slightly less like a laugh this time, as the Baa-Baas also received a reasonably serious pumping.

So if you were in dire need of some tight rugby, like some of us were, this was absolutely not the weekend for you.

That brings the domestic season to a close, with a little sprinkling of international flavour thrown in. But maybe the biggest story of the week eclipsed all of that: Dave Rennie naming his inaugural All Blacks squad.

Four new names were included, perhaps none more interesting than Anton Segner. The German-born loose forward came to New Zealand as a 15 or 16-year-old on what was basically a student exchange, and now, ten years later, he’s in the All Blacks. Quite an incredible story — especially after standing out in a poorly performing Blues outfit like a diamond in a sea of poo.

Also, a massive thanks to Allouran for the wine. We appreciate it very, very much.

Grab a beer and enjoy. Or, in this case, maybe a wine.