Goldy’s Rugby podcasts

Topics include:

"fighting one more round"

Family background & coaching journey; his aims, ambitions & dreams; family support; coaching philosophy; the importance of making mistakes and building relationships; authenticity as a coach; advice for young players and coaches; adapting and improving; views on South Africa rugby; and future goals.

Peter is a former professional rugby union player turned ambitious coach. He played for the New Zealand based Super Rugby team, The Highlanders, as well as NZ provincial side, Northland. Peter has always had a deep passion for coaching and an eye for detail. In 2017 Peter started up Rugby Bricks, an online platform with resources that help rugby players and coaches thrive by delivering world class knowledge and training through Rugby Bricks social media channels and dedicated skills programs. In 2018 Peter also became assistant coach for the Australian women's national rugby union team, the Wallaroos.

Topics covered:

Peter's background & career so far; his coaching philosophy; coaching influences; how he has overcome personal challenges; the development of Rugby Bricks; getting balance and an explanation of his values; how his values relate to learning and his coaching methods; an life-changing experience with Scott Robertson; advice to young rugby players; opinion around player pathways; & opinion on Laws of the game.

Laurie Fisher is one of world rugbys most respected coaches, having worked at the top of the game for over two decades.

Laurie’s career starts as a school teacher progressing to academy coach, Australian U21 coach, Australian Universities head coach, coaching the Canberra Vikings, Munster forwards coach, Gloucester head coach, and he is now in his third spell at the Brumbies Super Rugby team previously as head coach and more recently as forwards coach.

Laurie was awarded ACT Rugby Coach of the Year in 1999 and was forwards coach of the Brumbies in their Super Rugby title side in 2004. During Laurie's time at Irish Provence, Munster, the team won the Celtic Magners League title, contested two Heineken Cup and one Magners League semi finals. In 2020 Laurie was was part of the Brumbies coaching team that won Super Rugby AU. Laurie is hugely respected around the world and known for his innovation, leadership and expert coaching.

Topics covered:

Family background & personal journey; his teaching career & lessons learned; family support; influences & inspiration; coaching belief; careers challenges; life philosophy & values; coach authenticity; big learning moments; coaching philosophy; advice for young players; adapting and moulding to new environments & cultures; importance of improvement & reflection; contact area philosophy & tactical application in training sessions; utilising coaches and feedback; view on rugby laws; Australia rugby player pathway; and his future goals.

Aaron Walsh is an experienced Performance Coach with an expertise in mental skills, player development and building a performance environment. He currently works with the Gallagher Chiefs Super Rugby team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, as well as NZ Hockey, NZ football and the Auckland Aces. Having also spent many years in the USA working with players from the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and NY Mets in MLB, Aaron has gained massive experience around leadership and helping to create and maintain High Performance working environments. More recently Aaron has helped develop and drive a new mental skills curriculum with some of the leading schools in the U.K.

Topics covered: Aaron's background & coaching journey so far; his philosophy; a mental skills framework; mind gyms; developing confidence; navigating through pressure & good failure; building resilience; fundamental beliefs about a leader & coach; the development of his mental skills curriculum for schools.

George attended Wimbledon College until sixteen years of age, moving to The John Fisher School, Purley, for his Sixth Form. He represented Surrey county and regional squads at second row before being asked to join the England U18 tour of New Zealand.

George was part of the Saracens academy, but moved to Wasps RFC post school where he spent seven very successful years, winning both the Premiership and European Cup. During this time period George represented and Captained England Saxons. Following Wasps, George moved clubs to Leicester Tigers RFC for two seasons, before finishing his playing career at London Irish RFC.

During the end of George’s playing career he was assistant coach at Ealing Trailfinders RFC, as well as being part of the Samoa national coaching set-up, before transitioning to full-time as forwards coach at London Irish RFC for four seasons. In June 2020 George took on his latest coaching position at Gloucester RFC as head coach.

Topics covered: Where are Gloucester now?; his playing career and coaching journey so far: overcoming challenges, believing in himself, and the importance of good character; his vision and ambition for Gloucester; the role of an academy; favourite youth rugby memory!

Born in South Africa, Brendan Venter, is a practicing general practitioner and world renowned rugby union coach. A former world cup winner with South Africa in 1995, Brendan played 17 times for his country before joining London Irish RFC in 2001 as player/coach, winning the Powergen Cup in 2002. In 2009 Brendan was asked to join Saracens as Director of Rugby and has been widely credited with setting the blueprint, which has facilitated Saracens success. In 2013 Brendan became Director of Rugby at the Sharks in Durban, before returning to London Irish in 2016 as Technical Director. In 2017 he became defence coach of the Italian national rugby team whilst  also taking on a coaching role with the South African national rugby team. More recently Brendan has helped support the Stormers coaching team with their exit strategies and continues his long lasting relationship and support with Saracens.

Topics covered: Brendan's background, life story, his life philosophy; influences; balanced in life; developing character; set backs & over coming adversity and learning opportunities; the ‘Brendan Venter way’; advice to young players; the Saracens rugby journey #makingmemories #hardwork #discipline #humility #honesty; being a leader and building a successful #team #culture #values #vision; good relationships & good people; advice for coaches; coaching innovation South African rugby pathway; laws of the game; Saracens future; and personal future goals.

Brian's playing career included rugby clubs such as Fylde, Orrell as well as European clubs Montferrand and Rome. He was part of the England squad that toured Australia in 1975 before becoming a teacher and rugby master at Stoneyhurst School. Brian coached England A on the tour 1985 tour of New Zealand and in 1989 became the backs coach job at Bath Rugby Club helping establish Bath Rugby Club as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade, taking over as head coach in 1994. Brian had a spell as National Coach of Ireland from 1997 to 1998. Brian was Sir Clive Woodward’s assistant with the England rugby team between 1998 to 2002, before becoming the RFU's National Academy Manager between 2002 to 2005 launching England Rugby's National Academy system. Brian was appointed England Rugby head coach in 2006 and led the side to the 2007 Rugby World Final and was appointed an (MBE) in the 2008 New Years Honours. Following England, Brian was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and in 2010 he returned to his old club Fylde as a coaching consultant to the senior squad , where the club won National League 2 North in 2010/2011 season. In more recent years Brian has worked as a mentor to many professional and aspiring coaches across many sports, as well as a consultant coach delivering coaching sessions and working with national governing bodies and the world renowned IRANZ coaching organisation in New Zealand.

Topics covered: Brian’s background & influences; the effect of others on his coaching; the importance of communication, having a purpose, having a dream, relationships & emotional engagement; the development of his coaching philosophy, environment, innovation; being adaptable and overcoming challenges; situational coaching, courage & self belief; coach development, coach education, IRANZ; player development & being a mentor; his coaching career: EnglandRugby, IrelandRugby, Bath Rugby, Fylde Rugby, Kings School, Bruton, the 2007 RWC; opinion on laws of the game; player pathway; and honest lessons learned with lots of reflection on how to be your authentic self.

Gary is the current USA men’s XVs head coach. Starting his professional coaching career as forwards coach of London Irish in 2001, under newly appointed Brendan Venter, Gary became head coach in 2003. In 2004 Gary became head coach of Western Province before becoming Springbok assistant coach in 2008, which included helping the Springboks defeat all of the Tier 1 nations at least once; including three victories against the All Blacks during the 2009 Tri Nations Series and assisting the side during the British and Irish Lions tour of 2009, which saw the Boks secure a 2–1 series victory later in the year taking the side to Number 1 in the world. In January 2012, Gary took over at Newcastle Falcons before starting as head coach of Bath. In 2013 Gary was elevated to Director of Rugby, but then departed Bath despite a strong start to the season. In 2014 Gary was named head coach of South African Super Rugby side the Sharks just three weeks before the Sharks' opening game of the 2015 season and left in 2016 to take over as the Director of Rugby of Worcester Warriors in late January 2017 helping the side stay afloat in the Premiership that season.  Gary started the 2017–18 season and was granted an early release from Worcester Warriors so he could commit earlier to his new appointment as Head Coach of USA Rugby. The Eagles became the first team to win all five matches in the Championship and retained the Championship. Gary also became the first head coach of the Americas to lead the Eagles to a win all their games during a June test window and won the Americas Championship Cup in consecutive years in 2018.

A very detailed honest open interview and with lots of reflection.

Topics discussed: A detailed focus on Gary’s background and coaching history; his influences; lessons learned; what is coaching?; understanding the environment and group dynamics; his view on developing character; discussing the development of culture and environment within his teams; his adapting and ever changing philosophy and values due to overcoming career challenges adversity; where USA Rugby is right now and the future; rugby pathway and leagues in the USA; opinion on the laws of the game; and future goals.

Russell is a former professional rugby player having played at West Hartlepool, Bath Rugby, Rotherham, Worcester & Doncaster. Before turning professional Russell won two Varsity matches whilst studying at Cambridge University, and also represented the Barbarians. Russell was selected for the 1998 Commonwealth Games England 7s squad in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the 2001 England 7s squad for the World Series. Whilst at Doncaster, Russell helped coach the team, but then joined the Pertemps Bees for the 2007/2008 season as player/forwards coach. Russell then became head coach of Birmingham and Solihull and assistant coach of the England 7's team between 2007-2013, winning several tournaments on the World 7s Series, including back-to-back Dubai 7s titles in 2011 & 2012, the 2009 London 7s, and a silver medal at the 2013 Rugby 7s World Cup. Russell coached the GB Students 7s side to a World University Championship in 2012 before joining Eastbourne College, as an Economics teacher between 2013-2015. In 2015 Russell rejoined the RFU as one of England Rugby’s U18 coaches alongside John Fletcher and Peter Walton. Russell is a Level 4 RFU coach, Coach Developer, Coach Educator and Level 4 mentor. After a hugely successful three years as an England Rugby age grade pathway coach Russell co-founded the sport coach development company, Magic Academy, with John Fletcher.

Topics discussed: background & influences; values and beliefs; career path and proud moments in career so far; the importance of connections and relationships; helping players/coaches overcome challenges; how he helped developed the team and character whilst England Rugby U18 coach; the importance of being adaptable as a player; advice to young players to being adaptable and be better players; rugby future and importance in player development; learning curves he has had in his career; how he prioritises and be so creative; opinion on the current England Rugby pathway system; view on Laws of the game; and future goals.

Sir Gordon Tietjen’s is widely regarded as the greatest rugby sevens coach of all time. A World Rugby Hall of Famer, Sir Gordon is the most highly decorated coach in the history of rugby sevens. During his twenty-two year tenure as head coach of New Zealand rugby sevens and four years as Samoa rugby sevens head coach, Sir Gordon’s teams won: twelve World Series Gold’s, four Commonwealth Games Gold’s and two World Cup Gold’s. Sir Gordon was duly knighted by the Queen of England in 2013 for his services to rugby sevens. During his time in charge of the New Zealand rugby sevens team forty-four players went on to become fully fledged All Blacks in the fifteen-a-side game and he was the only remaining active international coach from the amateur era.

Topics discussed: Sir Gordon’s background and influences; challenges he faced both on and off the field; discussing the development and importance of culture and environment within his teams; Gordon’s philosophy, beliefs and values to playing & coaching rugby sevens; squad selection criteria and qualities his players would have; the importance and qualities of captain selection; favourite victory and proud moments; being authentic as a coach; the importance of rugby sevens in player development pathways; views on the laws of the game; and future goals.