HeyJaredThe Off-Field Review
Insights and opinion from Ben Coles, a rugby journalist now with The Observer and elsewhere.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 11
- Latest publication
- Sep 28, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 20, 2026
Latest issues
That Australia win and thoughts on the opening PREM weekend (opens the original)
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Honestly, I figured that a rotated South Africa travelling to face the Wallabies would end up being the second story this week, even with some suspicions that the Springboks might struggle given a lot of their players had not seen any game time since July.But what a wild one that was! Stacked full of narratives even before Australia gave up four yellow cards in the space of seven minutes. So let’s start there, with what it means for the Wallabies and Springboks, and then dive quickly into the PR
The best PREM signings ahead of 2026/27, according to agents and heads of recruitment (opens the original)
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Before kicking off this year’s discussion around the best transfers I wanted to go back to last year’s article, which was one of the first to come out on this Substack.I should add at this point, a huge thank you to everyone who has been subscribed since the start and to those who signed up along the way.Here were the most popular names last year in descending order:Santiago Carreras, Gloucester to BathLen Ikitau, Brumbies to Exeter ChiefsNathan Jib
The All Blacks are trending up despite losing 3-1 - but there is one issue (opens the original)
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So, that was Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, and it was very enjoyable. I’m guessing that 3-1 to South Africa was the most popular prediction before the series started - that was certainly where Charlie Morgan and I landed over on The Rugby Bunker.I recapped the fourth Test on the channel on Sunday, which you can watch here. We’ve just marked one year of the podcast and if you like what we’re doing, please consider subscribing.There is a bit more to unpack in this week’s column on the All Blacks s
Springbok scrum awesome again, but the main story is a revived All Blacks (opens the original)
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Sorry for the delayed column this week - I had to finish a project for a client which I will be able to say more about soon.Nowhere else to go this week other than the third Test in Soccer City, and some favourite moments from that win for South Africa over New Zealand to go 2-1 up in the Greatest Rivalry.There is of course Baltimore still to come, although that will feel very different given it is being played on neutral ground.There are reasons obviously for South Africa to feel good about tha
Those scrums, the front row changes, and now a Soccer City decider (opens the original)
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Due to covering Spurs-Newcastle on Saturday for The Observer, I ended up following what happened in Cape Town between South Africa and New Zealand in a weird order, starting with the punchy press conferences, then finding replays of that insane (yet apparently safe) flyover over DHL Stadium, before watching the match back itself to see what Rassie Erasmus and Dave Rennie had been sparring over.Before analysing each scrum and giving a verdict on Angus Gardner’s approach, plus the late front row s
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