Scrumbags Rugby Podcast · Pick and Drive Productions

WRAPPED: Lions Series + TRC and RWC Squad Reviews

·1 hr 13 min·4 clips

Melbourne delivered a 79th-minute Hugo Keenan try review and 90,000 people going absolutely apeshit.

Mitch welcomes Lockie back after a long break from the pod. Lockie turns up in his Gold Brigade Lions cap, and the two settle straight into familiar rugby chat. The Lions series is already over, and both sound a bit stunned by how quickly it passed. Mitch says the whole thing felt like something everyone had been building toward for 18 months. Lockie calls the tour exhilarating. They go back through the series instead of treating it like a simple result line. The discussion keeps circling the feeling that Australia had a real chance to make the series mean more on the field. They both agree the commercial side of the Lions still delivered. The media attention was huge, and the final Test pulled massive numbers. They talk through the fact that the Lions bring real force whenever they tour. Even so, none of that softens the frustration of losing the series. The mood after the Melbourne game is described as horrible. Mitch and Lockie both treat the defeat as a missed opportunity. The third Test is the clear high point of the run. They say it was one of the best Wallabies performances they have seen in a long time. That result brings back memories of strong Wallabies wins from 2021 and the year after. Those comparisons matter because they show what a complete Australian side can look like when it is firing. Lockie also brings in the grassroots angle. He argues that Rugby Australia did not do enough to build broader support around the Wallabies before the tour. He points out that without the Lions travelling support, a lot of the stadiums might have looked very different. The crowd that did show up was mostly the diehards. That becomes a bigger concern once they start talking about the 2027 World Cup. They see that tournament as a chance to do the job better, with the Matildas held up as the kind of event-driven momentum rugby should chase. The chat keeps its loose, spoken rhythm all the way through. It moves from praise to complaint to future planning without feeling forced. Even when they are annoyed, the tone still has affection in it. They sound like people who care enough to be properly frustrated. The episode closes by looking ahead to the Rugby Championship. Mitch and Lockie expect the Wallabies squad for South Africa to shape the next conversation. They even suggest the next pod could be a very early Sunday morning match review if the opening game lands that way. By the end, the show feels less like a wrap-up and more like carrying the Lions series into the next test. The rugby calendar is moving fast, and so are the opinions.

As heard by us

A lively Lions wrap that balances supporter pain with a clear look at rugby's bigger picture.

The episode reads as a post-series check-in with an optimistic look ahead, as Mitch and Lockie take stock of the Lions tour's atmosphere, result, and what it means for Australian rugby.

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Why you'd press play

Want a Lions wrap that covers the on-field miss and the off-field boost?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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