Welcome back to the Ruck, the journalist's rugby podcast from The Times and the Sunday Times following the second tour game out in Australia. As Andy Farrell said earlier in the week, we're touring now, and it certainly feels like that. The game's coming thick and fast. I'm Alfie Reynolds, and I'm joined here by Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher once again. Hello, Jens. Alex, he's calling them tour games already. We've converted him immediately.

He goes a one-line store and he's calling them tour games rather than warm-ups. I feel a little bit sick, but you know, anything to placate you guys, anything to placate you guys. But we are here in the talk sport commentary position. So if you hear maybe a slight buzz in the background, there's loads of equipment we're kind of crammed into the one I had in Perth

which I don't think you guys saw was spacious this is pretty cozy I'm surprised you got in here this is a salubrious setting do you think Andrew McKenna Ben Kay and the producer are going to fit in here once they're here for the test match it's going to be tight a couple of big hitters isn't it?

Yeah, absolutely.

Great view though.

The Suncourt,

we were just talking off air, Alex.

Awesome ground. once they're here for the test match it's gonna be tight a couple of big hitters isn't it yeah absolutely

great view though the suncourt we were just talking off air Alex awesome ground i love it i think it's a

proper tight steep rugby ground i mean there aren't we were chatting i was principality stadium and here

they're not as big as twickenham but i just just, this might be my favourite. I think we were

here with England in 2022 and it was, it was jumping that night. Like, the Aussies had won the

first test. Eddie Jones was in town. They were giving England players loads of grief. I've,

you know, I've sadly not been here for a state of origin game, but watched Origin Games on telly from here, and it is just, it's so close and steep.

And when we get to the Lions first test here, well, it'd be worlds apart from what it was

tonight.

Yeah, yeah.

We got the sort of usual Mexican wave, which does feel very warm-up game rather than tour games.

And I don't know, this is a call to arms to people who are coming out later who have saved their money and are just

doing the test series and I know that that will cost them a hell of a lot so they're hardly

saving that much money but bring the noise bring the energy shout do your lines lines lines

give us some atmosphere because we've had a couple of pretty low-key games here, haven't we?

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