This week on The Rugby Scoop Pod:

• Stormers loose forward Ruan Ackermann has been suspended for a dangerous cleanout against Leinster (3 match ban)
• The Stormers have ended their pursuit of Argentina lock Tomás Lavanini. - “We would rather put our faith in the local guys like Connor Evans, [Junior Boks captain] Riley Norton and Gary Porter, who are full-blooded Stormers,” - Dobson
• Hurricanes scrumhalf Cam Roigard has come under fire for his actions during Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific semi-final against the Blues.
• Rassie Erasmus has revealed the objectives for the South Africa A game against Zimbabwe next weekend as SA Rugby looks to ‘capture’ top Junior Springboks talents.
• Also, Vickers are you happy with the squad? We know Bulls players will join after this coming weekend
• Congratulations to Mzwandile Stick on leading the SA A side
• NZR announce Tony Brown as Allblacks assistant coach for 2028 and beyond - who can replace Tony? We know some wanted him to leave
• Lalakai Foketi joins the Ospreys
• Rassie says flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, ‌would be ready six weeks before the first of four tests against New Zealand on August 22, as would be his ‌usual halfback partner Cobus Reinach.
• Congratulations to the Knicks, winning the NBA after 53 loooooooong and grilling years. Spike Lee & Ben Stiller must be so happy
• Farrell said he expected Lowe and centre Bundee Aki to sign new contracts.
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• But while Aki agreed a new one-year deal to stay with Connacht, Lowe is set to leave when his contract expires this summer and has been strongly linked with a move to Japan's Suntory Sungoliath.
• Moving to Japan would halt his Ireland career a year out from the Rugby World Cup in Australia given the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU)'s policy of not selecting players based outside of Ireland.
• So James Lowe is retiring from International Rugby
• Last topic before we jump on the games: Hurricanes have scored 100 tries this season. And they’ve done it in 16 games - is Super Rugby the T20 of rugby?

Topics:

• Premiership: Joseph Dweba will be in the Premiership finals
• Bath choked this season? With everything they did last season, everyone expected more from them. This season they finish with 0 silverware
• On Bath - 4 mins 29 seconds ball in play 40+ phases and to be held up over the goal line
• Super Rugby Semifinals: Chiefs rip through the Crusaders
• Hurricanes second half performance - all this talk about Segner, he was absent last night
• Bulls / Leinster Preview: Last Dance for James Lowe. Do we genuinely believe Bulls can upset Leinster in front of 60k Irish fans

News:

• Rassie Erasmus has named a 51-man Springbok squad for a season-opening double-header in Gqeberha. 21 uncapped players included in the squad
• Aphelele Fassi has been granted a sabbatical by the Sharks to play in Japan and will return to Durban in June next year.
• Bordeaux have signed two young players from South Africa - Benjamin Coetzee and Diaan Augustyn on junior contracts
• Embrose Papier, has a contract with the Bulls until 2027, however The Sharks in Durban have offered to pay a fee to release him early - Sharks desperate?
• Ardie Savea and Dave Rennie are Japanese League one winners
• Stormers head coach has apologised to Leinster and Leo Cullen for Ruan Ackermann's red card

• double World Cup-winning centre Damian de Allende could also make his way back to the Mother City.
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• Ivan van Rooyen admitted the Lions were taught a harsh lesson by Leinster after their 59-10 defeat in Saturday’s Vodacom URC quarter-final in Dublin
• Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu injured his ankle in the act of scoring a second-half try and was walking with crutches after the match,
• Ruan Jacobs will be the Sharks’ new talent recruiter.
• Ruan Venter’s knee injury has messed up Rassie Erasmus’ plans to use him at No 4 lock for the Springboks.
• Lions and Springbok prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye has little appetite to challenge the ruling that will keep him sidelined until November 2027.
• Former Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies is reportedly being pursued by both Sars and creditors over unpaid debts.
• New Zealand Rugby has reportedly intervened with Hurricane Fehi Fineanganofo’s Newcastle Red Bulls negotiations in hopes of keeping the star winger on home shores.

News:

• Cheslin Kolbe on the verge of returning to the Stormers.
• Embrose Papier in Bok alignment camp
• The Sharks are attempting to bring Sanele Nohamba back to Durban.
• Tòmas Lavanini is expected to arrive in Cape Town in December once his international commitments with Argentina are complete
• Sebastian Vermeulen - the Tallest school boy has signed with the Sharks
• Super Rugby’s next partnership will be with Japan
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🎙️ Rugby Scoop – This Week’s Episode

📰 News Round-Up

• 🇪🇸 Spain bids for 2035 Rugby World Cup
  The Spanish Rugby Federation has officially launched its bid—huge moment for Tier 2 growth and European expansion.
• 🤕 JD Schickerling ruled out for 6 months
  Serious knee injury vs Connacht—big blow to depth and physicality.
• 🏆 England national rugby union team 62–24 Wales national rugby union team
  England seal the Triple Crown and extend their ridiculous winning run…
  👉 The question: who actually stops them right now?
• 💰 Rugby Australia posts $70M+ surplus
  Massive turnaround driven by the British & Irish Lions Tour revenue.
• 🎌 Bernard Foley to retire
  End of an era—one of the Wallabies’ most composed playmakers calls time after Japan.
• 🌍 U20 Rugby Championship kicks off
  Opening fixtures:
  • 🇳🇿 New Zealand vs 🇦🇺 Australia
  • 🇿🇦 South Africa vs 🇦🇷 Argentina

🔥 Main Topics & Talking Points

🦈 URC Drama – Sharks Decision at 79:30

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• Score: 26–33
• Time: 79:30
• Sharks take the 2 points… but was that the right call?

💬 Debate:

• Kick = guaranteed points but game over
• Restart = chaos, pressure, chance to draw or win

👉 This is a classic risk vs reward moment—do elite teams back themselves more?

🔴 Munster’s Resurgence – Real or Flash?

8

Back-to-back 40+ point performances 👀

• Are Munster Rugby peaking at the right time?
• Or are we overhyping a late-season surge?

👉 Suddenly looking like a serious playoff threat again.

🌊 Stormers Statement Win

6

• Stormers bounce back
• Beat a strong Glasgow Warriors side convincingly

💬 Are Stormers building toward another title push?

🤔 Dobson’s Willemse Call

• Damian Willemse on the wing?
• John Dobson explanation raises eyebrows

👉 Tactical flexibility or overthinking it?

👶 Marcus “Miller” Debut

• First cap buzz—early signs of a player to watch
  👉 Worth keeping an eye on development trajectory

🔵 Bulls Edge a Tight One

5

• Bulls sneak past Scarlets
• Johan Goosen Pollock (Pollock) slots 18 points

💬 Question:
👉 Do Bulls have enough to go beyond the quarter-finals?

🔵 Leinster Slip Up

• Leinster Rugby losing last night 👀
  👉 Blip… or cracks showing before knockout rugby?

🌏 Super Round – Christchurch

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• Big event energy
• Does Super Round actually add value, or just scheduling chaos?

🏆 Investec Champions Cup Semi-Finals

• Leinster Rugby vs RC Toulon (Ireland)
• Union Bordeaux Bègles vs Bath Rugby

👉 Bath coming off a loss to Northampton Saints… momentum swing?

🎯 Closing Hook for the Episode

• Can anyone stop England right now?
• Are Munster and Stormers peaking at the perfect time?
• And did the Sharks bottle that final decision… or play it smart?

• Holly Davidson First woman to referee a TOP 14 match
• Hurricanes confirms that Riley Higgins will join Edinburgh following the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific and NPC seasons
• The Fijian Drua record their second ever away victory in their history
• Moana Pasifik
• Eddie Jones believes “35 is the new 30” now - seeing that Brodie Retallick could make his way back into the Allblacks this season
• Moodie picked up a hamstring niggle during the first half of Friday night’s 47-7 win against the Dragons
• SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says the current demands on leading Springboks are “not sustainable”. What does this mean? Boks play less URC games?
• Heyneke Meyer - SWD Eagles coach is waiting for feedback from SA Rugby, who meet on 14 May, on whether prospective shareholder UXi Sport has received the necessary approval. This could be huge for the club
• Jake White Wins Selborne College showdown with Headmaster
• Le Roux Malan is poised to join Welsh outfit Cardiff later this year, bringing an end to his short stint in Durban.
• Scarra Ntubeni’s contribution to rugby.
• Grey College losing 3 in a row

Topics:

• URC - Stormers & Sharks losing at home :
• Sharks have now lost any hope of playing in the QF
• Credit to Ospreys On good win - Dan Edward’s
• Zikhethelo Siyaya 18 years old, chucked in the deep by JP Pietersen.
• 14 carries, 91 metres made, 10 defenders beaten - on Debut
• Stormers losing at home for the first time this season
• Stormers seemed fine when they attacked using their forwards but it was when they forced plays that made it difficult for them, trying to go wide too early
• Warrick Gelant costly errors on D
• Lions thump Warriors - Lions are now 4th on the log
• Muster Ruthless against Benetton - all their Irish stars are back. The comp is back to full complement now where stars are concerned
• Bulls too strong for the Dragons and next week they play Scarlets. Bulls sitting in 8th spot and need the win next week
• Investec Championship - what are our thoughts on last weeks match between UBB vs Toulouse
• Super Rugby:
• Drua win in Australia against Brumbies INCREDIBLE
• Hurricanes vs Chiefs - brutal encounter
• Crusaders in the MuD! Led by 19 - 0 at the start. To end up losing the game like that is worrying.

• Coach Johan Ackermann has reportedly asked Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone to convince seasoned South African playmaker Curwin Bosch to make the move to Loftus Versfeld. (Ackers Done with Pollard already? )
• Despite France beating England 48-46 in a thriller in Paris to retain the Six Nations title, Ireland remain the highest-ranked side from the northern hemisphere, behind the No 1-ranked Springboks and No 2-ranked All Blacks
• Rassie celebrates 8 years with Springboks this year, would you have thought the Boks would be in this position in World Tugby when he got appointed?
• Wales ended a three-year wait for a win in the Six Nations with a convincing victory over Italy in Cardiff on Saturday.
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Topics:

• URC - Stormers beating the Bulls
• Strikers are back to number 2
• Sharks back to usual ways, they’ve lost back to back against the Lions
• Six Nations

RFU Backs Steve Borthwick

Wales Big Effort Against Ireland

Scotaland Too Good For France

Italy Make History In Rome

Super Rugby: Blues, Reds, Canes