The Rugby Wrap

We catch up with Western Force Wallaroo Michaela Leonard to talk about the Force's big win over the Tahs and her hopes for the Force in Super W. What a fantastic ambassador for the women's game.

Western Force Head Coach Simon Cron talks about the positives, the frustrations, the games that still keep him up at night, and what he doesn't want the Force to become.

NEW POD: There's a bit of everything this week - Origin, the Tah's backline for 2027, the Super Rugby Final, movements at the Force and the importance of Club rugby to counter the dollars from NRL.

We wrap up the first of the finals, farewell the Australian teams, wrap up the Nathan Sharpe Medal Awards and reveal Heath Tessmann's Wallaby XV.

NEW POD: We ponder whether there should there be a 'Triple Crown' type competition for the Australian sides within Super Rugby; and Mitch Hardy picks his Test 23. 

A good one if you're just taking a relatively short trip. Brevity is the key as we head into the final round of Super Rugby for 2026.

NEW POD with special guest, the evergreen Kurtley Beale. He's been fantastic for the Western Force and shares his thoughts on the team, his plans, and which coach he felt got the best out of him. 

We discuss the new 9/10 pairing for the Force, the happiness of a key player, and a local club's 97th birthday. Among other things.

We catch up with Wallaby #879, Sam Carter, to talk life after rugby and the fortunes of the Force.

A review of Super Round and another swipe at the people designing rugby jerseys. 

Special guest, Western Force assistant coach Nic White, discusses the Force, his role, and how Heath Tessmann keeps trying to sell him body parts. He also addresses the 'Zac Lomax playing club footy' rumour.

We discuss the Moana decision and look at the Force and club rugby in the West. We had to record early because of travel commitments, so missed the team announcement for Week 10 unfortunately.  

We preview the RugbyWA competition with Wanneroo's Jordan Grattan and Nedland's Brynard Stander, plus we debate the new women's NextGen program, the RA review, and a few other interesting things happening in the game.

A look at week 7 of Super Rugby, and a preview of week 8, including the debut of Zac Lomax.

A quick recap with a preview to this week and the Force media interview with Darby Lancaster.

Niamh O'Connor, CEO of the Western Force, discusses the rumours surrounding the future of the Force, what she thinks of Zac Lomax, and the plan to connect and re-engage with the community game.

We dissect the signing of NRL convert Zac Lomax and wrap up round 4 of Super Rugby. All without Heath Tessmann.

We've heard of Mr Cricket, but who's Mr Gainline? And how many times does Dylan Pietsch re-watch his games? Find out when we catch up with Wallaby #978 this week. Plus some big RugbyWA club player movements in the MailBag. (Recorded early so we missed the Dave Rennie news.)

Finally uploading the right one! This weeks show, looking at round 2 and the importance of a win against Moana. Apologies again for the false start.

We wrap up Super Rugby round 1 and ponder whether the Force can bounce back against the Blues. Also on YouTube @TheRugbyWrap.

Western Force coach Simon Cron talks about the team and the season ahead for 2026

Force prop Tom Robertson talks about THAT try, his time at Oxford and the differences he's seen at the Club since his return to Perth. Mitch sounds like he's on dial up, but at least he was there Tess...

James 'Chucky' Stannard joins us to talk about his new role at the Force and where the team is at. Great to have him back in the West.

The express edition, with press conferences featuring Western Force coach Simon Cron and players Nick White and Dylan Pietsch.

Simon Cron discusses the Force win, why he didn't take Ben Donaldson off, and what they need to do to get the W in Canberra.

Here's what the coach and captain had to say after the Western Force snuck home on Saturday.

It's the stripped back, unplugged, acoustic version of the Rugby Wrap. All is explained. Thanks to the Western Force for the interviews with Carlo Tizzano and Trilleen Pomare. The full RW team will be back next week. (Tessmann depending.)

In a special live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience episode, we catch up with SVNS Event Oversight Director, Rebecca Roe, and World Rugby Series Director, Cian Twomey, to talk about the @svns_per . Thanks to Pitcher Partners, @AustralianRBN #PerthRBN and of course, Leap Strategies. We also give Heath Tessman his Christmas present. 

In our final podcast for 2024, we catch up with Classic Wallaby Matt Cockbain to chat the Classics, coaching pathways and where he sees the Wallabies. Plus a big mail bag. Huge thanks to Leap Strategies and all our listeners for your support.

EARLY RELEASE. This week we catch up with the Super Rugby Commissioner, Carolyn Turnbull, to talk about the structure for next year, the future of Super Rugby and the effort WA has made to secure big rugby events for Perth.

The good news is, we talk about a cracking RugbyWA grand final. The bad news is, we also talk about the Wallabies.

While Heath Tessmann suns himself on a beach at Coral Bay, Mick Colliss and Mitch Hardy look at the recent internationals, the local grand finals and the winners at the RugbyWA awards breakfast.

After a break, two of us are back to just shoot the breeze, talk a bit of Wallabies and have a look at the local scene. Bar room rugby chat. 

In this week's episode we shoot the breeze about a possible Wallabies line up and hint at another salacious rumour in the mailbag. (Apologies for some of the sound issues.)

Great to catch up with fan favourite Ian Prior to chat about the Force and his recent international appearance with Zimbabwe. What a champion. Plus the rumours fly thick and fast in the mailbag. 

We wrap up of the internationals, look at club rugby and ponder the ramifications if the Brumbies play some games in Melbourne. With thanks again to our sponsor, Leap Strategies.

Simon Cron, Western Force coach, joins us to review the 2024 season and explain what needs to happen for next year. Plus we spread a salacious rumour about Super Round and present the Rugby Wrap Annual Awards.

A quick review of the semis, a quick preview of the Final and some good chat in the mail bag about certain players being sent to the Sevens program.

This is  good ep, if I do say so myself. RA Chairman Daniel Herbert talks through the Rebels, the financial situation and what the board is focusing on for the next 6 months.  We shoot the breeze about the 7s, and Mitch and Heath pick their Test teams. It's a long one, so good if you're stuck in traffic.

We shoot the breeze with Western Force Wallaroo Sammy Wood and take a look at the final round of Super Rugby.

DC gone, NZRU splintering, Ronan Leahy to debut for the Force.  We missed them all because we had to record early. We also missed Heath Tessmann.

Fergus Lee-Warner and the Liquidators sounds like the name of a band, but it's our two guests this week as we look at the Rebels situation and catch up with one of the former Western Force stars now playing for the Tahs.

We catch up with the coach of the Perth Rams as they get ready to head to Rome for the Bingham Cup. Plus some interesting thoughts from Mitch on the whole academy system.

This was the best podcast in our five year history. Witty, fast paced,  intelligent analysis, informed opinion. Except I forgot to hit 'record' at the start. So here's a one man summary.

We review and preview Super Rugby and answer the question: Should the Wallabies play the All Blacks on Anzac Day. Plus some interesting stats about the number of players progressing from the Under 20s to the Wallabies.

A Rugby Wrap 'two for one special'. We chat with Wallaby great Jeremy Paul to hear his thoughts on Australian rugby and preview the Western Force SuperW semi final with coach Dylan Parsons. You might need to take the long route to work for this one. 

We had to record this one early so speculated about Drua suspensions and missed the dropping of Marky Mark, but we did cover Kurtley's signing with the Force. Plus the usual carry on.

We channel the great Cameron Shepherd as we review and preview the Super Rugby competition, and Mitch Hardy puts on his conspiracy theory hat to announce the new Waratahs coach. 

Former RA board member Geoff Stooke discusses the recently released 'Supporters of Australian Rugby Reform' paper. Plenty of points to digest. Plus we wrap up Round 5 of Super Rugby.

This week, we do what no sane person would do - we re-live the Force's game against Moana Pasifika. It was too distressing for Heath Tessmann to even consider, so he stayed away.