The London Welsh Rugby Club Podcast

Our guest this week is former London Welsh, Wales and British & Irish Lions Centre, Rob Ackerman.  Born in Ebbw Vale from great rugby stock, he went to Christ College in Brecon before following in his fathers' footsteps and playing for Newport RFC. Within a year of making his senior debut he was capped by Wales for the centenary test vs New Zealand at the Arms Park as a raw 19 year old up against some greats of the game.  In the Summer of 1982, Rob decided to move to London Welsh as he was studying at St Mary's in Teddington and had a storming season, culminating with his selection for the Lions.  He had a great time in his four seasons at London Welsh, culminating in a Middlesex 7's victory at a full Twickenham and a losing appearance in the John Player Trophy Final in 1985.  He then played Rugby League for several years, before completing his training as a teacher and moving to the Southern Hemisphere to teach PE and to coach some of the future All Blacks.

Our guest this week is current player Elis Staines.  Elis is a graduate of Llandovery College in West Wales and managed to finish his education both academic and rugby in New Zealand.  Back in the UK Elis came to University in London and found his way to London Welsh just as our first season got under way with Sonny Parker as our DoR.  Since then, Elis has loved the environment at the club and made many connections and has found some good role models at the club who are like a second family to him in London. You sometime forget how young Elis is, but his contribution on the field across the last three seasons has been outstanding and he is certainly a favourite of many who come and watch at Old Deer Park.

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD. 

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

Our guest this week is Danny Wilson.  Danny gave up playing rugby after a degenerative back condition in his early 20's meant he had to retire; which meant he focussed on a coaching pathway. Employed the the WRU to grow the game with schools and clubs; he then went to work for Cardiff Blues academy.  He got his big break when London Welsh offered him the forward job in 2008 to work with Martin Jones and the rest is history.  He has worked for three of the Pro 14 regions and coached Wales U20's at two World Cups, including one final and a semi final.  He would have coached Bristol in the Premiership if London Welsh hadn't beaten them in the play offs; so it was a year in the Championship with them; and then three years at Cardiff Blues which included wining the Challenge Cup.  A World Cup with Scotland in Japan as forward coach with Gregor Townsend, before being the current Head Coach of Glasgow Warriors.

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD. 

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

Our guest this week is Colin Charvis. Colin commenced his senior rugby career at London Welsh whilst he was studying in London and stayed for four years having played in the Occies, 3rds, 2nds and over 80 appearances for the first XV.  His club career took him from Swansea, to Tarbes (France D2), Newcastle and Newport Gwent Dragons.  Colin will be remembered for his try scoring ability for Wales, with over 90 caps, 3 Rugby World Cups, Captaining Wales, plus a few appearances on the Lions tour of 2001 in Australia.  Post rugby, Colin has kept himself busy with setting up his flooring company, learning Welsh and Broadcasting. 

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD. 

  Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

Our guest this week is former London Welsh back row forward, Ed Jackson.  Ed played for London Welsh for only two seasons, but what a two years they were for the club.  Promotion from the play offs in the Championship to a season in the Premiership with Lyn Jones as our DoR.  Ed went on to have a successful playing career with Wasps and Newport Gwent Dragons after leaving London Welsh, but he then suffered an horrific injury when diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool in April 2017.  Having undergone an operation to repair a fracture of his C6/C7 vertebrae, he lay, quadriplegic on his back in ICU with only limited movement in his right arm.  His rugby career now over and with experts warning him that he may never walk again; Ed faced a battle to for his own independence.

WIthin a year of his accident, Ed Jackson climbed to the top of Snowdon with many of his former London Welsh team mates at his side.  He hasn't looked back since, walking up many European mountains and the Himalayas, raising money for charities that helped him, including Wings for Life and Rugby Restart.  He has been inspirational to many other patients who have suffered similar fetes and has now formed his own Charity which is called Millimeters to Mountains to help others.  Truly an inspirational individual.

https://www.millimetres2mountains.org/our-story/

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD.  

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

Our guest this week, is former London Welsh Director of Rugby, Clive Griffiths.  Clive played Rugby Union for Llanelli whilst completing his A levels and then post University, combined teaching with playing for them.  He was a full back and had to wait his time behind JPR Williams to get his cap for Wales, when he made his debut vs England.  He then signed for St Helens and played Rugby League for 9 years for them and Warrington and he then got capped for Wales in Rugby League to be a dual code International. Once he had retired from playing, Clive combined coaching Rugby League for a number of clubs with his teaching. Clive's first full time Union Coaching role was with London Welsh in the Summer of 1996 and Clive had three great seasons' with us, before he went to Coach Swansea and Newport Gwent Dragons. This then led to him coaching for Wales with Graham Henry and Steve Hansen; before he helped Wales to their first Grand Slam in 27 years in 2005 with Mike Ruddock.  He then went on to Coach Doncaster Knights and in this podcast gives his view on the Championship and one of his toughest days in his Coaching career.      

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD. 

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

Our guest this week is Dylan Pugh. Dylan came to London Welsh from Neath RFC after a couple of successful years being coached by Lyn Jones; playing with many who went on to represent Wales and the Lions with distinction.  His pathway to Neath wasn't typical as he was part of the Bath academy when Bath were in the pomp, but only played a couple of matches at senior level before he was snapped up by Neath.  He sees London Welsh as his club as he was with us for over 6 years, playing under Adrian Davies for most of it and really enjoyed the environment created by our esteemed Head Coach.  Dylan left to forge a career in Media and is now an entrepreneur who launched his own Podcasting business in this pandemic and is an Ambassador for Global Welsh.  Dylan made a comeback for London Welsh in 2017 when Sonny and Cai bumped into him and convinced him out of retirement to give it another go.  

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD.

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

This weeks' guest is Will Taylor, Strength and Conditioning Coach at London Welsh RFC.  Will arrived at London Welsh in 2017 after Sonny Parker had got in touch with him to be part of the Coaching group with Cai and him, to take the club on a journey back up the leagues.  Will was working in a restaurant, but this moment was pivotal to Will's life as this provided the opportunity for him to open up his own business, which is the gym, Barch Richmond in the Summer of 2018.  Pre London Welsh, Will had played for two Welsh regions, Ospreys and Scarlets, as well as a host of local cubs like, Dunvant, Carmarthern and Aberavon and had represented Wales at two Junior World Cups.  He would say his most successful time as a player was when he first arrived at Wasps and had a consistent run of games in the Premiership and really enjoyed his time up in London. 

For more information on Will's gym: https://barchrichmond.com/

This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD.      

Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]

In this weeks' episode we have our Christmas special, where we catch up with a number of guests to see how they are, how the club is fairing and how they will be spending Christmas.  We have an episode available on Spotify only due to music rights.

Joint Club President - John Taylor 

Life Member - Terwyn Williams 

Club Chaplain - Paul Hill 

Chairman - Danny Griffiths

Director of Womens' and Girls Rugby - Ruth Barton 

Director of Mens Rugby - Cai Griffiths 

Chair of Supporters Club - Rhiannon Williams

 This podcast series is sponsored by London Welsh Developments LTD.      Contact details: 0208 3359123 email - [email protected]