Episode 167 of the B-Side Bois Podcast is a certified bro-sesh.

Victor Wong — Head Coach of Valley Boys High School Rugby and President of the West Des Moines Wombats — joins Mr. Gray in studio for a wide-ranging, laugh-filled episode packed with real rugby talk and a few hot takes along the way.

We kick things off with reminders about the Referee L1 Clinic, shout out our friends at MonStars Trading Cards, and dive into the latest All-Iowa updates, new teams popping up across the state, and the big question… what’s going on with Men’s D4?

From there it’s all things Wombats: the 5-Year Anniversary Touch celebration, banquet plans, 6 Nations watch party, and spring practice right around the corner.

We also break down:

• Rugby Iowa Boys HS 7s teams

• University of Iowa & UNI men’s spring schedules

• CRC vs CRAA Rant from Mr. Gray

• MLR & Players Association agreement

• USA Women’s upcoming tour on home soil

• 6 Nations results, table, Pick ‘Em update & Week 3 preview

• World Rankings shakeups

• USA Men’s 7s first outing of the year in SVNS2

And to close it out? A debate on the hardest position in rugby.

Plenty of insight. Plenty of laughs. Plenty of strong opinions. Very biased towards props.

Hit play and join the conversation.

Episode 166 is packed from Iowa to international rugby.

We talk the upcoming Iowa Referee Level 1 Clinic and why officiating is critical to the sport’s growth, plus the Wombats’ new head coach announcement. In-studio, Ant Frein joins us to discuss new sponsorship momentum and Iowa State’s spring outlook, and Andrew Ridgway breaks down his move from coaching to refereeing. Anna Degen calls in to talk her new podcast, the Hawkettes, and Iowa Rugby Union updates.

We also cover the new Iowa boys high school structure, Chicago Hounds heading to Nashville, Club Nationals in Chicago, and full 6 Nations Week 1 reactions — results, table, Pick’em standings, and a Week 2 preview.

Growth, governance, and a little chaos. Let’s get into it.

🚨 SEASON 5 STARTS NOW 🚨

Episode 165 is LIVE and we’re kicking off 2026 with a loaded Season 5 Premiere, brought to you by our brand-new sponsor MonStars Trading Cards 🃏🔥

We’ve got the full crew in the Wombat Den and we’re joined in-studio by fan-favorite guests and friends of the show:
🎙️ Casey Hansen
🎙️ Erik Frana
🎙️ Joe Lippert
🎙️ Jeremy Newman

On this episode we dive into:
🏉 The upcoming Iowa High School Rugby season
🇺🇸 A spirited (and honest) debate on what’s missing from USA Rugby — on the field and in growing a real fan base ahead of the World Cup
🏆 A quick Six Nations preview
😤 Our biggest rugby pet peeves
🔮 And what we’re most excited about heading into 2026

This one has big conversations, real laughs, strong opinions, and elite vibes — exactly how we wanted to set the tone for Season 5.

👉 Go follow Joe Lippert’s Substack (https://substack.com/@joelippert1)
👉 Smash that like, share, subscribe, and drop a 5-star review — those little things help more than you know
👉 Hit play and ride with us into 2026

Season 5 is here.
The tone is set.
Join us. 🎧🔥

🎙️ Episode 164 is LIVE — and it’s the perfect way to wrap up a huge year of rugby!

The Bois cover everything happening in the rugby world right now: from our Spotify Wrapped results and Wombats Scholarship launch, to a wild college coaching story, major college commitments, and a big opportunity for UNI Women and the HOA All-Stars. We also dive into USA Rugby updates, and the latest shakeups across domestic rugby, including the newly announced MLR structure and Natey Burgey’s retirement.

Nichols takes us through the early Rugby World Cup pool breakdowns, global rankings, international fixtures, Eben’s 12-week suspension, growing youth numbers in the U.S., and the state of world rugby round out a loaded international segment.

To close out the show, we look back on the best rugby moments of 2025, share our Christmas wishes for the 2026 season, revisit last year’s predictions, and make bold new predictions for the year ahead.

💬 Drop a comment:
What was your favorite rugby moment of 2025?
Who should be our dream guest in 2026?
And what’s your bold prediction for the new year?

Join the conversation and kick off the holiday rugby vibes with us! 🏉✨

The Bois are back! In this week’s episode, Mr. Gray, Philly V, and Sam Hendricks kick things off by recapping the college rugby playoff landscape for our local Iowa squads and previewing UNI Men’s Rugby as they gear up for a huge postseason run!

From there, the crew breaks down all the action from the Midwest Finals championship matches.

Then we’re joined by a special guest: Nick May of the D2 Midwest Champion South Side Irish! Nick gives us an inside look at SSI’s journey, how the club elevated themselves from “pretty good” to Midwest champions, and what’s next for the boys in green.

After that, we bounce around the global game with a quick look at the international test matches, some USA Rugby news, SVNS and 6 Nations opportunities and then it all goes off the rails. We dive into more unserious MLR talk and finish with a Philly V blind ranking that is so bad we probably should’ve ended the show early.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors Direct Voice, SingleSpeed Brewing, West Des Moines Wombats, Koality Works, The Iowa Rugby Foundation, and Tyler Dailey for supporting the podcast and Iowa rugby!

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Episode 162 is here and it’s a BIG one!
Mr. Gray and Nichols are joined by the triumphant return of Philly V and Iowa State Men’s Rugby Head Coach Ant Frein for a packed show.

The boys break down the latest livestreaming updates, recap college playoff action, and look ahead at the huge matches still to come. They also dive into the Autumn International Series with all the chaos, drama, and standout moments you’d expect.

Finally, we jump into part one of a massive conversation on reimagining Major League Rugby—inspired by feedback from our posts across social media. The debate got rolling so hard that we couldn’t even finish it… so stay tuned for more!

As always, the MLR talk is just a fun thought experiment between a few guys saying random things from the comfort of the Wombat Den—but we’d love to bring in more voices from outside our “territory” to keep the conversation going about how MLR can grow, improve, and build long-term sustainability.

Tune in, enjoy the chaos, and let us know your thoughts! 🎙️🍻

We talk about stuff!

Mr. Gray, Nichols, and Sam Hendricks are back for another jam-packed episode of The B-Side Bois! The guys kick things off with a livestream reminder for the upcoming Iowa vs Kansas matchup—presented by the Iowa Rugby Foundation and proudly supported by new sponsor Koality Work out of Iowa City.

They cover huge news around the state:

🏉 Iowa Men clinch the #1 seed and will host playoffs vs Kansas
🏉Iowa State Men head south to Oklahoma for the HOA Semifinal
💜 UNI Men advance to the Great Midwest Final after a dominant win
⚔️ Thomas More rolls past ICCC 53–7
💪 UNI Women return to action Nov. 14th
Plus, an Iowa Rugby Union update—coaches are needed!—and a full Midwest Rugby Union standings and playoff breakdown.

Check out an interview with Kansas Rugby's Marcus Williamson, followed by Iowa’s Ren Heimer to talk preparation and mindset ahead of the massive playoff clash.

The lads also go global—recapping Ireland vs New Zealand, England vs Australia, and USA vs Scotland. They look ahead to November 8th’s weekend slate, discuss world rankings, and even debate potential USA Rugby World Cup host cities.

Finally, they dive into how American rugby can grow the game by learning from other nations—with plenty of laughs, insight, and strong opinions along the way.

#WayOfTheWombats #GrowTheGame #BsideBois

Mr. Gray, Nichols, and Sam Hendricks are back together to talk all things rugby! Well, Nichols and Same meet for the first time ever in this episode, but name another podcast that can cover Iowa High School Girls Rugby, National 7s Girls Rugby, an interview with Anna Degen from the Iowa Rugby Union Women’s Development Committee, a full recap of college rugby across Iowa, updates from the Midwest Rugby Union, and deep discussion on how to keep improving the game in the heartland—all in one episode!

Of course, the bois don’t stop there. They dive into international rugby news, share plenty of laughs, and offer thoughtful insights along the way. Whether you’re a player, coach, fan, or just rugby-curious—everyone’s welcome in the B-Side Bois clubhouse.

And don’t forget: tune in to our livestream of the Kansas Jayhawks at the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 8th, presented by the Iowa Rugby Foundation, live on our YouTube channel!

🎙 Episode 159: State Championship Preview + International Updates

The B-Side Bois are back with a huge episode! We’re announcing that we’ll be live streaming the IAYRA Girls State Rugby Championship this Sunday at noon — presented by DirectVoice Services, LLC!

We dive deep into a full preview of the 8-team state tournament, breaking down how each squad earned their spot and what to expect on Championship Sunday. We’re joined by Norwalk Co-Head Coach Bryant Reynolds, who shares how his team is preparing for the challenge as the #4 seed.

Then we turn things over to International Correspondent Eric Nichols, who catches us up on everything from around the globe — the Women’s World Cup, USA Men qualifying for the next World Cup, Autumn International matches, pro league updates, and a discussion on R360 and what it means for the sport.

We wrap up with a look ahead at the Midwest Rugby Playoffs and what clubs are heating up.

Stream now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and don’t miss our livestream this Sunday at noon on YouTube!

#IAYRA #RugbyIowa #GirlsRugby #BsideBois #RugbyPodcast #MidwestRugby #USAeagles #WayOfTheWombats #WinWithTheWombats