The British & Irish Lions on tour present the ultimate test of talent v cohesion. Gain Line Analytics know an awful lot about cohesion and how teams benefit from it, and co-founder and former Wallabies prop Ben Darwin joined Brett McKay & Harry Jones on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast this week to get into the nuts and bolts of it. So how do the Lions build the cohesion they need? And which positions can be most affected by a lack of cohesion? And what is the best way for the Wallabies to overcome the very abundant levels of experience overflowing from whatever XV the Lions name for the Tests? It’s a great chat, we hope you get lots out of it. Games of the Week – it’s all International from here! • New Zealand v France, Dunedin • South Africa v Italy, Pretoria • Argentina v England, La Plata • Australia v Fiji, Newcastle #rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #British&IrishLions #Lions2025 #internationalrugby #Wallabies #AllBlacks #Springboks #LosPumas Find us: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866 Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio) Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
