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The remarkable and untold story of the 2014 Rugby World Cup winning England side from the view of their coaches, Gary Street and Graham Smith.

In this episode, early forays into the women's game, creating monsters, hotels 'down the road’, how one tackle in 2006 changed the face of English women’s rugby and the how pain of the 2010 World Cup Final loss drove them both towards 2014.

Gary and Graham speak to Eamonn Hogan and Jess Bunyard.

The producer and editor is Eamonn Hogan.

Music and sound credits:
Hum at the start of the episode –  Also Sprach Zarathustra – Richard Strauss
Music ‘post-hum’ – background to the try montage: Furious Angels  Rob Dougan BMG Music 2002   All Rights Reserved
2010 Rugby World Cup Final Clip World Rugby Video Commentator: Jonny Hammond

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:
Ian Davies, Director of Rugby Christs Hospital School, former Director of Rugby at Cornish Pirates, Neil Harris, Director of Rugby at St George's School, Harpenden and USA Eagles assistant coach and Paul Turner, Head Coach at Ampthill RFC, former coach at Dragons, Wasps, Saracens and Sale.  
The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and say how to use it on the pitch, at all the levels of the game.

This week's content:

• The Sports Psych Show Dr Oliver Eslinger - How to Turn a Losing Team into a Winning Team – hosted by Dan Abrahams
• The Magic Academy with Kevin Bowering and Nigel Redman – hosted by Russell Earnshaw and John Fletcher
• Inside the All Blacks – Robin McConnell

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

• The Championship Clubs Podcast – Michael Case and Ben Gulliver
• Eighty Percent Mental – Hugh Gilmore and Peter Olusoga
• Running on Emotion Lawrence Dallagio – Alaistair Eykyn
• BF Analysis – Brian Fitzgerald (link will be shared when available)

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:
Ed Hall, researcher and lecturer at Northumbria University, Ryan Thomas, lecturer at Plymouth Marjon University and Adam Nichol, teaching fellow at Durham University, coach with Northumberland Cricket board and Coach develop with the ECB.    

The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and say how to use it on the pitch, at all the levels of the game.

This week's content:

• Remember The Titans – Available on Disney+
• ‘Handshakes, BBQ’s & Bullets’ - Paul Potrac, (2013)
• Leadership Contemporary Critical Perspectives - Brigid Carroll, Jackie Ford and Scott Taylor

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

• Sport Coaching Cultures – Robyn Jones, Kathleen Armour and Paul Potrac 
• Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig
• The Sociology of Sports Coaching – Robyn Jones
• Constraints Based Methodologies in Sports Coaching -  Keith Davids and Colleagues
• Don't Tell Me The Score with Rupert Spira – hosted by Simon Mundie
• The Lamentable Lemmings of Talent Development – Stuart Armstrong
• Playing The 'Big Moments' – Rich Hudson

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

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In this episode of the Women's Rugby Coaching podcast, Jess Bunyard is joined by Vicky Alexander. 

Vicky has a number of rugby roles including Petersfield RFC Senior Men’s Coach and Cobham Girl’s Rugby Lead. 

The episode discusses Vicky's coaching work at Cobham including recognising and supporting female players with their mental health. 

As well as detailing her own experiences, Vicky has advice for other coaches and clubs wishing to better support players' mental wellness. 

Jess and Vicky also chat about Girls Rugby Club and plans for their first session back after lockdown.  

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

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Dan catches up with one of the leading lights of ecological dynamics, Rob Gray.

Rob is professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University. In the coaching world, he is better known for the Perception and Action podcast.

I ask Rob to give us a basic guide to what is meant by ecological dynamics and perception-action coupling in a sporting context. It includes an outline of how the constraints-led approach gives the players opportunities to develop.

The discussion moves around the following topics:

• How does our training sessions need to adjust?
• What are we doing already which is probably effective, though we didn't know?
• How do we coach areas of the game which need players to have a safe understanding of the movements involved?
• How would you coach place-kicking and how do we add pressure effectively.
• In a team context, how does a constraints-led approach work?
• How close to the real game do we need to get, and conversely, how far away can we get too?

To find out more about Rob's extensive work and research go to perceptionaction.com

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests discuss the current state of the game in this Roundup Rodeo 'Special' 

This week's guests:

Alan Zondagh, former director of rugby Bulls Rugby Franchise (South Africa),  director of rugby Saracens, head coach London Scottish, head coach Western Province, head coach and director of coaching at Eastern Province and director of coaching Western Province, South Africa. 

Ian Costello, currently Wasps Rugby defence and kicking coach, formerly Nottingham Rugby head coach and Munster Rugby senior and academy coach.

Nick Wood, currently master-in-charge of rugby at Radley College, Premiership official and citing officer for the RFU.  

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

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Episode 3 features Mark and Rob Shotton, two of the founder members of LooseHeadz, the rugby apparel brand supporting mental health through a group of high profile ambassadors and a grassroots academy. We are joined by Elliott Blackmore, a social, emotional & mental health specialist teacher and highly experienced rugby coach, including coaching in the Saracens Developing Player Pathway.

Conversation includes;

• The automatic association of mental health is bad, so how we can promote good mental health
•  How easy it is to reach out and help people
•  How we can support our players on their return to rugby after such a long break
•  Who will struggle more? A relatively new player? Or those far up the ladder..?
•  The parent / child, coach / player relationship
•  Being kind

LooseHeadz can be found at https://looseheadz.co.uk 

All profits from apparel sales are reinvested into raising awareness of mental health.

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:

Rosie Collins, sport and exercise psychology consultant with GreyMatters, senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, Serena MacLeod, sport and exercise psychology consultant with Leyton Orient WFC and Oxford University through Optimise Potential and Alex Stoyel, sport and exercise psychology consultant with Optimise Potential. 

The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and say how to use it on the pitch, at all the levels of the game.

This week's content:

• Striving for excellence: A multi-action plan intervention model for shooters – Bortolo et al, (2012)
• Guardiola has made me think Spurs shouldn’t have sacked Pochettino – The Athletic, Jack Pitt-Brooke 
• What the All Blacks can teach athletes about accepting mental vulnerability – The Conversation

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

• Luke Shaw opens up about Mental Health – ManUtd.com
• Invisible Women – Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men - Caroline Criado Perez
• The Happiness Trap: Evolution of the Human Mind – Dr Russ Harris
• The Decline of Play – Peter Gray, TEDx
• Coach Conversation on Transition – UK Coaching Nick Levett and Jenny Coady
• Exuberant Animal – The power of Health, Play and Joyful Movement – Frank Forencich

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Bird and LJ welcome Vicky Macqueen.

Vicky, who received a British Empire Medal for services to sport, was an England international with 34 caps, plus also representing England at 7s.

She has coach men's rugby with Hinkley, was director of women's rugby at Loughborough University, as well as coaching at Lichfield Women.

In 2015 she founded didi Rugby UK and now has franchises across the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

She has also featured as a radio commentator at Women's World Cups and on Leicester Tigers games.

Here are the questions we asked her:

• Talk is through your coaching and playing journey.
• What made you leave teaching and set up didi Rugby?
• What have been your biggest learning points since starting up your business?
• What advice would you give to anyone wishing to do this?
• What has been the biggest impact of didi Rugby, on young children and any young coaches involved? 
• When working with young children, what would you say are the most important skills to develop? 
• What has been your most amusing moment working with young children? 
• Do you find any similarities when coaching children or adults?
• How do you differentiate the sessions for 18 months to 6 yr olds?
• What skills from your teaching have you found most useful when coaching? 
• How do you ensure learning occurs when planning a session for young children? 
• You have an extremely successful franchise in England how easy was it to set up in NZ, Italy and Australia? 
• What was it like receiving your BEM?
• What has been the proudest moment of your rugby career? 
• How have you adapted during lockdown? 
• What’s next for you? 

Click on the link to find out more about didi Rugby.

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan Mail

Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:
Emma Taylor, head coach Stamford women and girls, American Football coach and trainee energy psychologist, Matt Coldrey, programme manager of the sports coaching degree at Hartpury College and Emma Humes, primary PE teacher, netball and tennis coach .

The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and say how to use it on the pitch, at all the levels of the game.

This week's content:

• Using failure, movement & balance to learn faster. Podcast #7 – Huberman Lab (Video version https://youtu.be/hx3U64IXFOY)
• PE: More than Sport – Lewis Keens
•  Balance is Better Philosophy – Sport NZ

 SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

• The creative brilliance of dyslexi Tedxbrighton - Tedx talks – Kate Griggs
• The Power of Vulnerability – Brene Brown
•  Sevens Heaven – Ben Ryan

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

CLICK HERE

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!