Podcasts · The Good, The Bad & The Rugby: Australia & New Zealand

No Defence, No Fight: JP Goes Off on the Wallabies

20 Oct 2026 · 52 min

The Bledisloe series is done, and it ended with the All Blacks running riot over the Wallabies in Sydney. Andy Rowe, Kieran Read, Justin Marshall and Jeremy Paul start by paying tribute to young South African lock Hyron Andrews, then look at the rugby world rallying behind Nathan Charles, including the All Blacks’ special haka in the sheds.

JP is back and fired up about the Wallabies’ defence. That kicks off a big debate on structure versus character. The boys also cover Beauden Barrett’s comeback, Fabian Holland and Scott Barrett running the engine room, Peter Lakai’s rise, the loose forward mix, and whether Damian McKenzie is the long-term 10 or 15. They finish with a preview of the Nations Championship as the northern tour approaches.

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The Good, The Bad & The Rugby Australia & New Zealand. We’re off next week and back to preview the Nations Championship.

Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:41 Tribute to Hyron Andrews 01:43 Nathan Charles and the All Blacks’ gesture in Sydney 04:01 JP corners Cheese for the show 06:25 Where has JP been? 07:42 The Wallabies’ defensive collapse 11:09 Structure vs character 17:05 The Sydney crowd and a silent haka 20:03 Harvey Norman Effortless Moment: Beauden Barrett 24:35 Fabian Holland and the forward engine room 28:47 Should Scott Barrett be captain again? 29:30 Peter Lakai, a star at 23 33:46 Loose forward balance and the 6-2 bench 36:21 DMac: 10 or 15 at the World Cup? 40:22 That 40-metre pass 41:24 Nations Championship preview 49:38 Wrap

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