On episode 232 I am joined by Bernard Jackman, a former professional rugby player, coach, and now a performance consultant, guest speaker and respected voice in Irish sport.

Bernard is a former pro Rugby player who played for Connacht, Leinster, Sale Sharks and an Irish international. He has been head coach in FC Grenoble, France and at the Dragons in Wales. Bernard is one of only a small number of Irish rugby players to have won a Six Nations, European Cup, Challenge Cup and a Magners League Medal.

Since retiring from professional rugby he has moved into coaching and high-performance leadership. Bernard has built a diverse career across coaching, media, athlete development and performance consultancy, working with teams and organisations both within and beyond rugby. His work has also extended into other sporting environments, including collaborations with Horse Sport Ireland and involvement around the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Jackman grew up on the Wicklow/Carlow border he grew up on a cattle farm which led to a different path to elite sport. We discuss how this affected his career and upbringing. Bernard shares his advice to parents with children on the elite sporting pathway and also offered insights to current athletes on developing their professional development and working during their sporting career.

A major part of Bernard’s professional development came through his master’s research, where he travelled across the world studying some of the leading high-performance teams and organisations in sport including Manchester United, Dyson, Sydney Swans, Toyota, Melbourne Storm, Just Eat and more. Through visiting elite environments and learning directly from coaches, athletes and performance leaders, he gained valuable insight into the habits, cultures and systems that underpin sustained success at the highest level.

In this episode, we discuss Bernard’s journey through professional sport, working with Enda NcNulty, learning from Alex Ferguson, Brian O’Driscoll and Jonny Sexton, his approach to retirement, transitioning into coaching, high-performance environments, and the lessons he has taken from working across multiple sports.

The conversation also explores performance, elite sport, and what high performance really looks like behind the scenes in sport & business.

Find Bernard here https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardjackman

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Recorded using Samson Q2 microphone, Edited using GarageBand

Intro music, Watered Eyes by a talented Irish artist, Dillon Ward check him out ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ .

If you are looking to set up your own podcast get in touch with the Prymal Productions team ⁠⁠⁠www.prymal.ie⁠⁠⁠