Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our fifth episode we are talking to Dale ‘Chief’ McIntosh. Chief made 454 appearances for Pontypridd RFC, and went on to coach for Wales and the Cardiff Blues among many other clubs like Brecon RFC and Pontypool RFC. Chief and Rich played together at Pontypridd, Rich’s place of birth, with Rich playing 4 seasons there, 3 wearing the black and white of the club and 1 wearing a blue, black and white jersey of the Celtic Warriors.

Ponty has been at the coal face of Welsh culture and industry for centuries. It’s a town, set in the steep sides of the Rhondda Cynnon Taf, at the confluence of the River Taff and River Rhondda, about 12 miles north of Wales’ capital, Cardiff. And it has forged some of rugby’s greatest players and legends.

Pontypridd RFC was founded in 1876, making it one of Wales’ oldest clubs and their home is at Sardis Road, affectionately known as The House of Pain. Beyond Wales, Ponty is also part of rugby legend. It’s earned a reputation as one of Europe's toughest and most passionate teams. And that’s just the fans! Ponty is the epitome of Welsh rugby.

And no one sums that up more than Chief. Being able to chat to him for this episode about his lengthy career both on the field as a player and alongside it as a coach was really special. Two former Ponty players and teammates sat in the clubhouse talking about what made playing for Ponty special and what is important about rugby. We got to explore with Chief the highs and lows of his own career but also his reflections on the challenges facing the game and our clubs today.

As a player he was a big brother to everyone in the team, a talisman. And it was an honour to sit with him and talk about the game that gave him so much, and all that he gave to us, the fans. We hope you enjoy this special conversation.

Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our fourth episode we are talking to Scott Balwin – a former Ospreys, Quinns and Wales player now on an exciting journey as a coach. Scott sits at the intersection between rugby at an elite level and the game at grassroots, as a player and now as Head Coach at Bridgend Ravens.

Bridgend Ravens was founded in 1878 and since then has produced 25 British and Irish Lions and a list of amazing players as long as your arm. Like many clubs, the Ravens are facing rising costs and challenges with keeping the lights on, but they have been innovating. Their new partnership with Electrify Cymru, who are the sponsors of the newly named Electric Brewery Field, will support the club to transform how they use energy, meaning they have more money to invest back into the team. One of these plans, as you will hear Scott talk about, is to use wind power to make the Electric Brewery field the site of Wales’ first carbon-neutral rugby game. It really feels like the Ravens are a club meeting their challenges head on.

As with our conversation with Bomb last week, this week’s episode is, in large part, a reflection on the game at every level and from the perspective of coaching the game, not just playing it, in Wales but also in the English system. Both conversations reflect on the culture in rugby and the idea of putting the person above the player.

It was fantastic to be able to spend time talking to a student of the game like Scott in this episode – to be able to bring out his learnings, his different experiences in the game and what he thinks connects it all. Not to mention talking to him about how important Steve Tandy was in his career.

We really hope that this conversation brings you as much enjoyment to listen to as it was to have and potentially offers a slightly different perspective on the game we love.

Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our third episode we are talking to Adam ‘Bomb’ Jones, the cornerstone of the Welsh pack for over a decade, earning 95 caps and achieving a legendary feat of 3 Six Nations grand slams and 5 British and Irish Lions test caps. He’s a legend of the game on and off the field.

We had our conversation at Neath RFC, home of the original all blacks. The Gnoll is a tough place to play and is home to a rugby community that has forged some of Wales' and the world’s best players. It’s the epitome of Wales’ proud, historic, fierce and friendly rugby roots.

It was so interesting to hear Bomb talk about how much his home club in Abercrave means to him and about his 40 games for Neath being his most important games – that he feels a greater emotional connection to his local teams, than to that of the national side.

And it was fascinating to get the insight of someone who has experienced every level of the Welsh system and is now coaching in the English system, on what’s important and what works.

It also really felt like there was a lot happening at the Gnoll when we were there, which as we talked about in the episode has recently become a CIC (Community Interest Company), these are companies which operate to provide a benefit to the community they serve – which perfectly describes Neath rugby club.

Like many of the other clubs we’ve visited during this series Neath are struggling to keep the lights on and keeping people coming through the doors, but they are innovating and reaching out into the community in many different ways including hosting the Christmas lights for the town now the town council can’t afford to put them on. What a place, and what a player to have a conversation with on this episode – we really hope you get as much from this conversation as we did.

Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our second episode we are talking to Jon Fox Davies, a product of Carmarthenshire and Scarlets with 96 Welsh caps and 6 British and Irish Lions caps. Jon grew up in the hustle and bustle of his parents pub in Bancyfelin, where he gets his nickname from and as you’ll hear in our conversation today the place that raised and supported him still means as much today as it did back then.

This episode is filmed at the International Players Lounge at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, a dedicated space for those who have been lucky enough to play for Wales. Originally we were set to have our conversation at Carmarthen Athletic RFC, which is where a pair of Jon’s boots are on display, but as part of the critical role they play in their community they had an NHS outpatients clinic booked in, and so rightly couldn’t fit us in.

It was fantastic to talk with someone as thoughtful as Jon and to hear his insights as a player and about the lessons rugby has taught him beyond the game - striving to be the best version of himself and how seriously he took the responsibility of representing not just his country, but his community. Amongst all the achievements, and all the amazing stories, the story he tells about playing with his brother was especially moving. But most striking was the direct line of connection and purpose in so much of what he talked about leading straight back to his community in Carmarthenshire, and the local clubs and the support from those clubs that have sustained him through his whole career.

This is a conversations which deep dives into the game, the challenges Carmarthenshire is facing, what being a Dad means and the importance of place – the smile on Jon’s face as he was talking about the boys with a Whitland RFC flag at a Lions game was something else! We really hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our first episode we talk to Shane Williams, the epitome of what this podcast series is about – people who are rooted in, working hard for, and championing their communities.

Shane was the face of rugby in Wales for so long, but he was always the boy from the Amman. World player of the year! 87 caps and 58 tries for Wales , and 4 Lions caps. But Shane’s story is much more than these moments in the spotlight, even though he’s had his fair share. It’s a story of belief, belief in himself in the face of crushing setbacks, it's a story of his love for where he comes from, and a driving motivation to give back to a community he is so passionate about.

In this episode we discuss the need to ensure the future of our game is rooted where it begins, at home, in our communities, with the fans . At the moment the clubs in our communities are struggling to heat showers, keep the lights on and stay afloat, but these are spaces that we need to fight for, so they survive and thrive for all the generations coming through.

And of course we delve into highs and lows of Shane's career, the things he remembers and the lessons learnt.

It was a privilege to spend time with Shane discussing the game and his home club. We really hope you enjoy it too!