Nick Mallett

Yeah, I actually I commentated on one of his test matches.

He was on Nick Mallett's tour in 1997.

And of course, he's a he's a KwaZulu-Natal boy originally.

But yeah, I can remember talking to Yanni Du Plessis back in 2015 and.

We've got some major issues there.

And Nick Mallett, you've just got to listen to some other people.

And when he was interviewed by Justin Marshall, he said the same.

He basically said, you look at super rugby and the Hurricanes forwards and front row, I love them, sidestepping, smashing people, passing them right across the field.

And it was hard to see who was who because both sides were really on fire.

And I like Nick Mallett's analogy.

He said the Springboks bulldozer beat the All Blacks Ferrari because they're two very contrasting styles of play and they were both on show.

It was fantastic.

some of the old boys.

Well, if they launched it, Nick Mallett would be there leading the charge.

He looked brilliant in his blue and white.

Spoke about his days winning five successive Curry Cups.

No, of course.

And, and like Nick Mallett always famously said, like, "If you wanna beat the All Blacks, you have to at least score 36 points, and-

[laughs]

... you're not gonna do it with a big fat zero on the, on the, on the scoreboard."

It was the easiest Q&A.

I always said, like, doing a Q&A with Nick Mallett, like, it's the most you'll get paid per-

Word

... per word.

You actually did some really good things in that game." Here's a couple theories of mine.

Um, one of them is I love Nick Mallett, for a start, right? I think Nick is a fabulous coach, and I've met him and worked with him in the past and, and I really like his analysis.

And he talked about a couple of moments.

He talked about a sliding doors moment where Eben knocks the ball on.

Yeah

... that could be a 14-point swing.

Now, the great thing about Nick Mallett, he's such a gentleman.

He's saying, "I'm not saying that this cost us the game.

Um, I think, I think you're, you're, you're right in that we all expected this from South Africa, and it wasn't like they were really, really bad at it.

I watched, um, Nick Mallett on with Brendan.

Mm.

And it, it's a really good analysis from-

Yeah

...

I really like Nick Mallett, mate.

He's got a great rugby brain.

But, um, yeah, I, I, I think they, the All Blacks, especially Jordie, had an exceptional game, and, and I mean, he was by far the man of the match to me.

Um, uh, uh, Nick Mallett called it the Jordie, uh, the Jord- Jordie heist, and it was in a we- a lot of ways.

Uh, so I mean, yeah, I think the Boks will have seen that.

I think they feel if those two play together and they've played so many test matches together, they'll get it right.

You know, you're fighting space aliens in it with, w- with all the atmosphere of a infomercial for portaloos.

But, uh, I, I, I think it, I think Nick Mallet shoots this well enough and everybody acts it well enough that it, it, it, it, it, it, it br- it brings you into it, and there's a moody atmosphere to it as, as, as much as can be mustered on, you know, stark, stark videotape with a lot of natural lighting.

Um, yeah, the setting is a fair enough choice, but I had to choose my Russian boys, and if I hadn't chosen my Russian boys, I had to choose Commander Millington's opening scene.

But I do obviously think the setting is genius, long overdue to set "Doctor Who" there, and they do enough with the setting to shake it up to make it seem like a fresh and interesting take.

Uh, you know, the, the sense of geog- the geography chosen, it's very, very clever.

Well done, Ian Briggs.

Well done, Nick Mallet.

Well done, Andrew Cartmel.