The London Welsh Rugby Club Podcast

In this episode we hear from the club Director of Rugby, Cai Griffiths as he previews the season ahead in Regional 1 South Central.

Our guest in this special is BBC Rugby Union Correspondent, Chris Jones.  Chris is a former KCS player and was a guest at London Welsh when both teams played each other in London South 1.  We chat about his rugby journey and how he got the role at the BBC.  What he learned as a London Society Referee and why he might go back.  Chris shares with us his views on the state of the Championship, current form of the Home Nations and what's it like interviewing Eddie Jones.  A fascinating conversation from a top journalist who is at the forefront of our game. Enjoy.

Our guest this week is former back row player, Ollie Steadman.  Ollie has played in the Championship for over a decade and is well placed to give his honest assessment of the league and what could be done to improve its visibility.  He joined London Welsh from Newcastle after helping them gain promotion from the Championship to the Premiership as we went the other way. He played a big part in helping London Welsh get promotion to the Premiership under Justin Burnell, but then a few short weeks into that season he was suspended.  He is very straight talking and tells us exactly what happened from his perspective.  He then moved on a played for Doncaster, Leeds, Ealing, Bedford and is now looking to help Moseley out of National 1. Enjoy

Our guest this week is former London Welsh captain, Graeme Peacock.  He grew up in New Zealand, but was quite a latecomer to rugby, enjoying other sports before got hooked on the sport at 16. He then played locally for his club, before getting involved with the District side and coming up against some very famous All Blacks like Ian Jones and Buck Shelford.  He moved to the UK and played a bit with a few clubs, before a chance meeting with Andy Lee and moving to Old Deer Park.  Graeme played for the club all the way through the 90's when we went from Amateur to Semi Pro and discusses the different environments and some of the characters he played with.  He is still involved in professional sport and spends his time now as a Caddie for an American golfer. Enjoy

Our guest this week is former London Welsh scrum half Ian George.  Ian started his senior rugby career with Northampton Saints, but struggled to get a regular starting birth at his favourite position of scrum half as he was behind a current England International and was often playing centre.  He moved to Rosslyn Park to further his International aspirations and sat on the bench a few times, but was never capped by England. He captained the Barbarians a few times in his 14 appearances and won a County Final at Twickenham with Middlesex.  Ian moved to London Welsh in 1979 and Old Deer Park was his home for the next 6 seasons where he made scrum half position his own and really enjoyed his rugby at the club.  We chat about his current role at Saracens and what its like being a parent of a professional player, travelling the world watching your offspring play.  Enjoy

Our guest this week is our former hooker Chris Ritchie. Chris played back row all through his time at Swansea University, where he captained them and the Welsh Universities.  He went on to play for Oxford University for one season,  before settling down to play for Rosslyn Park whilst earning his keep in Insurance. A couple of years into his senior rugby career, he switched to hooker where he played for the rest of his playing days. Adrian Davies convinced Chris to come across the A316 to London Welsh to play at Level 2 where he became a firm favourite with the Supporters and players at the club.  143 appearances later during 6 eventful seasons he then retired, only to go on and play another 100 games for Rosslyn Park. Chris keeps in terrific shape through cycling challenges and loved reminiscing about his time at London Welsh and Rosslyn Park. Two great clubs. Enjoy

Our guest this week is former centre and full back Seb Jewell.  Seb has a unique perspective of his time at the club having lived through the joy of a couple of promotions to the Premiership, a B&I Cup win and was there at the end when the club went into liquidation.  He talks about his sliding doors moment of how he signed for Harlequins after playing for Richmond Rugby Club and how challenging it was to break into 1st team rugby.  He was loaned out to Esher for a couple of seasons to get consistent game time and he really blossomed as a player and was eventually signed by London Welsh. Seb chats about the Wednesday night sessions with the young lads and how much enjoyment he had playing rugby at Old Deer Park.  Enjoy.

Our guest this week, is Club Chairman Danny Griffiths.  In this interview we discuss the key themes from the AGM. The Board restructure, the end of the 5 year plan and what comes next.   Where are we financially with the club and what does the club require to prosper at Level 5 with the increase in travel costs and ensuring we have a club that can compete at this level.  New membership packages and what will happen on match days.

The big shout for volunteers for the club to enable us to move forward in delivering a great Community Club. Vacant roles are below.

Head of Mini & Youth Rugby​

Head of LW Careers Hub​

Head Coach Girls Rugby​

Club Accountant​

Book keeper​

Shop Manager​

Social Media Manager​

Match Day Media Coordinator​

Men’s Social Media Rep​

Mini & Youth Social Media Rep​

Supporters Club Social Media Rep​

Match Day volunteers​

Sponsor Liaison Officers

Our guest this week, is Saracens and England International player Alex Goode.  Alex played a few games for London Welsh in 2008 to help us avoid relegation and to ensure he was game ready for the U20 World Cup.   We discuss the run in that Saracens have in the Premiership and the hope that they can get to another final at Twickenham.  Alex was successful at many sports, but was only picked up by the Saracens Academy after he had played for England U18's; and what a career he has had;  5 Premiership titles, 3 European Cups and 2019 European Player of the Year and still looking to add to those.  We discuss life after rugby, whenever that will be and how much he enjoys playing the game.  You will be very impressed with his recollection of the matches and players he played with for London Welsh over 15 years ago and how much he enjoyed turning out for the club.  A fascinating insight into one of the best players of the last decade in England and a top bloke to go with it.  Enjoy.

Our guest this week is current Performance squad player, Andy Black.  Andy joined London Welsh by chance at the beginning of the season when the club were in London North West 3.    Our supporters immediately took to him as he played a variety of position from No 8, to front row during that season.  We here about his upbringing in North Devon and about representing his county and playing for Exeter Chiefs Academy. HIs home club was Barnstaple and he played for them all the way through his senior school.  Andy loves playing for London Welsh, enjoys the engagement with our supporters, has a great bunch of mates within the squad and to top that;  he recently earned his 50th cap for his appearances in the 1st XV.  Enjoy