The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby

We need to talk about Canada… again. Two defeats in a week, the series is gone, and for the first time in about a decade the Red Roses have lost back-to-back games. What went wrong in Ottawa, and where does Mitch go from here?

This week we’ve got a double act to help us work it out. GSR regular and Scotland lock Emma “Wass” Wassell is back, and joining her on her first ever trip to the pod is Trailfinders back-rower and Red Rose No. 271, Haidee Head!

The Rev’s away this week, so we’ve done the stats homework ourselves. The headline number: Canada made 13 line breaks to England’s 2 in Ottawa. Ouch.

Haidee’s journey to an England shirt is one of the wildest we’ve heard. A year ago, she’d just been dropped by the Queensland Reds. Her plan was a season in the PWR, then maybe a season in Super Rugby Aupiki in New Zealand, then back to Queensland to try to win her Reds contract back. Instead, she moved to Trailfinders, became a Red Rose and won a Six Nations… a tournament she’d never actually watched until she was playing in it! Now she’s an England player, and it sounds like she’s here to stay.

We also get into what it means to blood new talent. Haidee tells us how that trust gives a young player the confidence to step up in the big moments, and Wass explains why there’s no substitute for experience at international level.

Elsewhere this week:

🌹 England v Canada: the numbers behind losing the series, and what has to change.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland: nine defeats in a row and four different attack coaches in the last year. But they led at half-time in Canberra, so are there signs of real improvement by the end of WXV? Wass gives us the inside view.

🇺🇸 USA v England: the Eagles arrive on a five-Test winning run for the Red Roses’ final WXV game this Friday (kick-off 21:15 UK - NOT a midnight KO, praise be!). Will it be a bounce back or a banana skin?

Make sure you check out Mitsubishi Electric’s toolkit at parallelpotential.com 💬

And if you need money for your rugby club, you can apply here for the Allianz All Together Sports Fund: https://www.allianz.co.uk/about-allianz/partnerships/sports-fund.html

They have £100,000 to giveaway to grassroots rugby clubs. Any RFU, WRU, Scottish Rugby or IRFU club in Northern Ireland can apply and the deadline is 21 November 2026.

Send us your post tour questions for Scaz & Mo - we’re recording with them straight off their flight back from North America… [email protected] 💬

Don’t sleep on Magic Meg’s merch: https://magicmegltd.myshopify.com

& please join us in manifesting a Red Roses win in New Jersey 🌹

Happy listening & watching, GSR fam!

Shira x

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We need to talk about Canada… The Red Roses have lost, the record is gone, and there's a series to save. Can England bounce back? We're asking the big questions this week, and we've got the perfect guest to help: Red Rose World Cup-winning hooker and brand-new mum, Lark Atkin-Davies! Our very own Reverend, Nick Heath, is also in with his analysis of the Canada clash. As always, he's brought the facts and stats to preview this weekend's third and final test.

Last weekend, Lark made it back on the pitch for Bristol Bears just 16 weeks after having baby Olive, and she scored their two opening tries, to boot! She shared some really honest truths about the trials and tribulations of a professional athlete's journey through pregnancy, childbirth and becoming a mother. We talk about how her body changed during pregnancy (that bump really got in the way of her knee drive!), how she managed gestational diabetes, and her decision to have a vaginal birth.

Like Abbie Ward, who has been a real inspiration to her, Lark is hell-bent on making pregnancy & early motherhood taboos a thing of the past, in society and especially in women's sport. Breast pumping in the Bears cafeteria is just one of the ways she's pushing herself out of her comfort zone, for the good of her baby and the good of the cause. 

Spoiler: she wants to be the best mum AND the best rugby player, and she's got big plans for Lark 2.0.

There are now FOUR mums in the Red Roses set-up, so we also get into how much Mitch and the England environment have backed Lark, Abbie, Zoe, Rosie and Marlie, giving them the confidence to make the choices that are right for their families.

Elsewhere this week:

🌹 Losing the record: Nick has the stats on that defeat and tells us why letting go of the record might actually be freeing for this squad. It's only the size of the streak that makes this loss feel so big! Thanks to Opta for supporting the Rev's stat work.

🏉 WXV match-ups: who's playing who this weekend. Look out for a rundown of all the match-ups, and where to watch them, on our socials again on Friday.

🦁 Lions vs France: who has the edge at the Principality, and Lark's promise to be there whether she's in the squad or not.

🏆 PWR final: our summary, plus Lark's campaign to take the final to Allianz Stadium, which we're 100% here for.

Grab a cuppa and press play. And if you're a mum juggling work, sport or both, we'd love to hear from you in the comments, or email us at [email protected] 💬

Don't sleep on Magic Meg's merch: https://magicmegltd.myshopify.com

Please join us in manifesting a Red Roses win for our girls 🌹

Happy listening & watching, GSR fam!

Shira x

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The Red Roses take on their big rivals, Canada this weekend over in Toronto - so before Scaz & Mo flew to Canada, they popped to the Cabbage Patch to have a catch up with Elma.

They’d been training at Allianz Stadium before they left - something no Red Roses team had ever done for an entire camp before now. We hear all about that and look ahead to what they’re looking forward to doing in Canada. 

It’s safe to say it’s quite a delirious episode. Scaz hasn’t had a day off in a while and she fully gets the giggles, which means there’s a Scazisms and Moisms around every corner. 

We do manage to get enough sense out of her to look ahead to the ‘Rugby Rematch Tour’ with Amy Cokayne back in the starting line up and Sadia back on the bench, things are shaping up NICELY. 

The girls take a vote on who’ll be best at running GSR Media Ltd’s HR department and we open some of the greatest listener messages and presents we’ve ever received. 

Send us your emails at [email protected].

This episode is brought to you by Apple: Scaz talks about her Apple Watch Series 12, and how the Readiness Score helps her decide between a “let’s go” day and a “do less” day. Learn more at apple.com/uk/apple-watch-series-12. Requires iPhone 11 or later. For general wellness purposes only. Not intended for clinical use or to detect, diagnose, monitor or treat medical conditions.

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Thank you to Tight Five Designs for sending us the caps - if you like the look of them, here’s the link: https://tightfive.co.uk/?srsltid=AU7gw4VZnPd-Kngp2IRLmQ7s6b9rjF7SbU16pxSH2IFhtibB084NYpEV 

And don’t sleep on the Magic Meg merch, either: https://magicmegltd.myshopify.com/?utm_source=shop_app 

Happy listening & watching GSR fam!

Shira x

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Scotland’s 75-cap star Lisa Thomson pulls up a seat at the Cabbage Patch in Twickenham to join Elma, Mo and Meggy for this week's episode. Meggy kicks things off with a Chardonnay slap (IYKYK) and then we get into how competitive the girls want that inaugural British & Lions Squad selection to be, before the conversation takes a rainbow-flavoured turn nobody saw coming. 

Tommo, real name Lisa, is now known for her incredible skillset, but openly admits that she’s learnt a lot on the job. She couldn’t even pass off her left hand when she first got called into Scotland camp! She tells us about the goosebumps versus Wales a year ago, and what it was like to compete in what nearly felt like a home World Cup - all while playing through a serious Achilles tear, that would have seen a mere mortal like Elma, on crutches!

The efficiency with which Tommo speaks Mo-isms fluently, is revealed when a towel (?!) debate goes way too far. Then we take a journey through Tommo’s rehab experiences over the last year, just to keep things semi grounded. 

Also in this episode: Scotland’s WXV campaign and the three-Test series against Australia, plus a fresh batch of listener emails, including the relentless penne debate.

Tommo, good luck with the rehab! Meggy, happy birthday in Canada! Send us your emails at [email protected].

This episode is brought to you by Apple: Meggy talks about her Apple Watch Series 12, and how the Readiness Score helps her decide between a “let’s go” day and a “do less” day. Learn more at apple.com/uk/apple-watch-series-12. Requires iPhone 11 or later. For general wellness purposes only. Not intended for clinical use or to detect, diagnose, monitor or treat medical conditions.

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Happy listening & watching GSR fam!

Shira x

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Never in the history of rugby matches have we seen a game end with a penalty kicked short, the kicker making an interception to score in the corner and then kick her own conversion to win the game at the death.

So, the morning after the night before, the Elma, Scaz, Mo and Meggy meet in The Cabbage Patch, where Mo had been crowd surfing only hours before, to dissect the match against their greatest rivals, the Black Ferns and pay their dues to Zoe Harrison’s self-professed ‘shit or bust’ moment of history. 

Meg tells us how she came up with the V formation to challenge the Haka & which Kiwi gave her the timing for the half way line approach. We also hear what Maddie Feaunati, the women who wears a Rose but could have worn a Fern, told the girls ahead of facing the Haka at Allianz Stadium. 

Mo also explains how tough it is to make the right calls off the bench in a game that tight & poses the big question... how many holes there are in penne pasta - answers in the comments, please! 

& finally, our OG title partners in the first two seasons of this podcast, have opened a new round of the Allianz All Together Sports Fund: £100,000 is now available in grants of £1,000-£5,000, paid straight to grassroots clubs for pitch hire, bills, kit, travel and subs, or whatever else you need! Any RFU, WRU, Scottish Rugby or IRFU club in Northern Ireland can apply and the deadline is 21 November 2026.

Here’s the link to apply: https://www.allianz.co.uk/about-allianz/partnerships/sports-fund.html 

If your club gets a grant, don’t be surprised if we turn up with a camera! 😎

Happy listening & watching GSR fam!

Shira x

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We’re back in camp to get the Scaz & Mo’s reaction to the Red Roses' winning run coming to an end at Sandy Park in the first of three tests against Canada, joined by one of the most decorated players in the game and a stalwart of this unbeaten Red Roses side, Alex Matthews. She’s won the World Cup TWICE, is vice-captain of the Red Roses, and she has been in an England shirt since she was 17. 

There's a new face around the camp: Shaun Edwards… & the girls have THOUGHTS. Most of which are apparently showing off in front of England’s newest coaching consultant.

We break down the Canada draw, including Sophie de Goede backing Kevin Rouet's call to settle for the draw on the final play despite being raging about it and we look ahead to the Black Ferns this weekend - which Alex says is going to be ELECTRIC. 

Alex also opens up about what it takes to be a leader in the best sports team on the planet as a quiet introvert. She’s living proof proof that the quiet ones can lead, too - even though she struggles with confidence at times. 

Finally, a public service announcement: Alex is also a tortoise mum. Join Elma in learning how to look after one, why he lives in a fridge over winter, and how he ended up hibernating in Scaz's.

For tickets to the Red Roses Brunch: https://allianzstadiumtwickenham.com/hospitality/wxv/red-roses-v-new-zealand/the-lock-no4-tables 

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Sarah Bern & England’s newest 50 capper, Holly Aitchison join Elma & Mo in Red Roses camp. As two of the most stylish women in the game, Holly and Sarah let us in on their style secrets, how they shop and (crucially for Mo) pack for camp, before getting into the Sydney Sweeney controversy, an honest talk about overcoming anxiety, and how WXV is shaping up so far. 

We do actually cover the rugby this week - with a decent review of the Australia game. But as for Canada at Sandy Park? The girls are clear it's not a Rugby World Cup final rematch… and if Canada want to call it that, well, that's a them problem.

Tickets for our Roses Brunch before the England New Zealand game at Allianz Stadium on 26th September:

https://allianzstadiumtwickenham.com/hospitality/wxv/red-roses-v-new-zealand/the-lock-no4-tables

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Season 7 is here! Elma, Scaz and Mo kick things off back at The Lensbury, where the Red Roses are training ahead of WXV - in almost EXACTLY the same spot they celebrated last year's Rugby World Cup win. 

They're joined by Megan Jones, Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir to reminisce on that unforgettable night, dig into fertility support in sport, chat through the switch to the size 4.5 ball, and look ahead to WXV - including England's clash with Australia in Manchester this weekend.

If you'd like to come to our Roses Brunch before the England New Zealand game at Allianz Stadium on 26th September: https://allianzstadiumtwickenham.com/hospitality/wxv/red-roses-v-new-zealand/the-lock-no4-tables 

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After 18 rounds, 74 matches and 4515 points… Saracens lifted the PWR trophy at a packed Stoop!!
Just moments after Marlie & Zoe had lifted the trophy, Elma, Scaz, Mo and KDM are joined by just about EVERYONE who’d been on the pitch today… Rosie Galligan, Rachel Malcolm, Emma Wassell, Alana Borland, Georgia Ponsonby, Kelsey Clifford, Zoe Harrison, Alysha Corrigan, Marlie Packer, Celia Quansah & The Reverend Nicolas Aiden Heath.
Strap in. It’s chaotic.

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Underdogs, Trailfinders take on the experienced Saracens in the PWR final this weekend. 

Our Meg Jones, Marlie Packer, Sophie de Goede, Kate Zackary, Emma Wassell, Abi Burton and Sophie Bridger join Elma to preview the game on the pitch at Twickenham Stoop 

Only one question remains: who will score more? 

Celia says Trailfinders will. 

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