Rugby Coach Weekly

Send us a textNick Scott is director of rugby at Rugby Colorno. He previously spent 20 years helping to build a world respected coaching department at England Rugby, with 9 years as National Coach Development Manager.We chatted about:Why Nick isn't a reflective coachWhen not to use questionsSpeaking a different language in a different countryBuilding better relationships with people, not just playersChanging perceptions for players based on their previous coaching experiencesInterpreting what fun meansHow to plan your sessionsPlaying full contact at U6sHow much should we concentrate on "all-court" skillsets for every playerWhat Nick's daughter's "rat under the sofa" taught him about the coaching process To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textHost Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. This week's guests:Cody Royle, former Head Coach for Canada Men's AFL, author and coach mentor, Doug Lemov, author and educator and Darren Lewis, former performance analyst and founder of Codex Analysis.  The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and discuss how it can be applied to coaching. This week's content:Chris Petersen reflects on the busyness, the imbalance, and the ‘out of control’ recruiting grind of college football – The AthleticLessons in Practise from the Seattle Seahawks - Doug Lemov's Field Notes Swarms, X-Teams, and Routine vs. Critical Communications – Mission Critical Team Institute Teamcast SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED The Tough Stuff – Cody Royle Why Don't Students Like School - Daniel Willingham Motivated Teaching – Peps MccreaBelonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness – Owen EastwoodCalling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World – Carl BergstromTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textBird and LJ talk to Aileen Richards, who was the first women on the board of directors of Welsh Rugby Union.Here are the questions posed to Aileen:Growing up what were thoughts on a career - did any female role models influence you on your journey?Why rugby?What is the most memorable event in your career?How did you progress to the role of senior exec at Mars? What life experiences provided you with the skills to do this role? You’ve been a Welsh rugby fan for over 50 years do you think there are any lessons to learn from the men’s game at community, club and International level? From your experience of working in Mars a global company. In terms of brand what do you think needs to happen for women’s rugby to secure more financial backing and access mainstream media?What was it like being the first woman on the board of the WRU? How did it happen?  Where do you feel your influence has created the greatest change in Welsh rugby? What would be your advice to any female with a passion for rugby, who wants to support and make rugby a game for everyone about how to get involved at a strategic level in the game? What qualities/skills would they need?You’ve just become chair of the new cricket team Welsh Fire. Can you tell us a bit more about this role and set up? What can rugby learn from other sports such a cricketWhat one tip you would give to a young person looking to succeed? What is your next big goal that you would like to achieve?Aileen Richards is a non-executive Director of WRU. She was a senior Executive with Mars Incorporated until 2015. As executive vice president of Mars, she was responsible for the Human Resources strategy for the company's 85,000 employees and she also led Mars Global Services (Mars IT, Mars Financial Services and Mars Associate Services). In her 30 years with Mars, she also held senior international roles in Procurement and Manufacturing and lived in Washington DC and Brussels. She is currently an independent non-executive director on several boards, including Mars Nederland, Jacob Douwe Egberts, Pret A Manger and Welsh National Opera. She was also the first woman on the board of directors of the Welsh Rugby Union and chairs the Board of the new Cricket Team Welsh Fire. She  has been a Welsh rugby fan for over 50 years, has travelled to many World Cups. Married with two children, all of whom played 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, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textHost Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. This week's guests:Caz Morgan, Senior Analyst with England Rugby, Dan Cooper, Senior Analyst with Bath Rugby and Jack Lawrenson, Senior Analyst with Welsh Rugby Union Women's national team The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and discuss how it can be applied to coaching. This week's content:Jane Ludlow – Striking the right balance between innovation, empowerment and the fundamentals- State of Play Series Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-Reflection - Tesia Marshik – TedX  James Smith – Not A Life Coach – James Smith SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSEDSteve Kerr and Pete Carroll with Brene Brown - The Flying Coach PodcastThe Culture Code – Daniel Coyle Outliers – Malcolm GladwellDeep Work – Cal Newport“Learning by Design”: What Sports Coaches can Learn from Video Game DesignsUsing Challenge Cards to Put the Athlete at the Centre of Their LearningTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textFor this episode I’m joined by two coaches I hold in high regard for the information they share and the positive outlook they portray as coaches.Adam Gillings is U12’s Coach at Bracknell RFC, Kids First Mentor but primarily, dad to his two kids.Rhys Davies is now a Coach Developer with the RFU after stints at London Irish and the Honourable Artillery Company.The conversation revolved around a following a player-centred approach especially after such a lay off during lockdown and how to incorporate some session design elements that don’t always spring to mind.The excellent London Irish Session Design Toolbox gives some great ideas and my guests talk about the Tactical Warfare and Meta-Cognition elements, and how block practice still has its place.You can find information on the London Irish Session Design Toolbox here.We also talked about adaptive games following Rhys’ excellent recent article for Rugby Coach Weekly. You can find his article on Fiji Touch here.To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textHost Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. This week's guests:Charlie Hayter, Great Britain Rugby 7s Men's and Women's team leader and assistant coach, Craig Morris, Great Britain Canoe slalom coach and Ian Johns, British Judo Head Para-Olympic Coach.This week is an Olympic and Para-Olympic special where the team discuss their preparations for the upcoming Games in Tokyo. SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSEDInternational Performers Podcast – Brian LevensonWebcast Ecological Dynamics of Skill - Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Human PerformanceCoaching Project Podcast – TJ ManasterskyA systematic review of small sided games within rugby: Acute and chronic effects of constraints manipulation - Zanin et al, (2021)What Cognitive Mechanism, When, Where, and Why? Exploring the Decision Making of University and Professional Rugby Union Players During Competitive Matches – Ashford, Abraham & Poolton, (2021)Coach Well-being: Taking Time for Yourself – UK Coaching To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textAlan Dymock is Features Editor of Rugby World Magazine. He specialises in long-reads and detailed studies, as well as stories of far-flung events and quirky characters.In this Deep Dive, we discuss Alan's features on pain killer and performance-enhancing drug use in rugby.Alan's playing background & how he transitioned to journalismWhy Alan decided to investigate dopingDid Alan have any apprehension about investigating such a thorny issue?Where did the investigation start?Why do players take banned substances?Pain killer use and the slippery slope of their useThe advances in medical science that have occurred around pain & how we should be looking to the long term and psychological interventions Issues around Therapeutic Use ExemptionsIs there a genuine appetite to catch drug cheats?How we should be looking to prevent use rather than catching cheatsWhy we need to constantly re-visit the discussion around dopingHow widespread is doping in rugby?The features we discuss can be found here:Doping in rugby: a Rugby World investigation - https://www.rugbyworld.com/countries/france-countries/doping-rugby-41475Playing through the pain: an investigation into painkiller use in rugby - https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/blogs/playing-pain-investigation-painkiller-use-rugby-77805Chronic Pain, Cannabis & Rugbyhttps://www.rugbyworld.com/featured/chronic-pain-cannabis-rugby-113821All of Alan's investigations can be found here -https://www.rugbyworld.com/tag/investigationInformed Sport Supplement Check Service - https://www.wetestyoutrust.com/England Rugby Anti Doping & Illicit Drugs - https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/anti-doping-and-illicit-drugsTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textHost Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. This week's guests: Jamie Cudmore, Rugby Canada Development Academy Head Coach and Senior Men's Forwards Coach, Scott Manning, Castaway Wanderers Head Coach and Canada U18 Assistant Coach and Sean White, James Bay Athletic Association Head Coach, Canada  U18 Backs CoachThe 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 Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters – Priya ParkerEmotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ – Daniel Goleman SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSEDBrene Brown Podcast – Unlocking UsBrene Brown – Dare to LeadThe Tough Stuff: Seven Hard Truths About Being a Head Coach – Cody RoyleUnderstand the Game in its Simplest Form – Cody Royle blog postCoaching Champions with Dave Hadfield - Coaching Confidential PodcastChallenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games – Dehghansai, Pinder, Baker & Renshaw, (2021)The Rugby Coaches Corner Podcast with Chris Campbell – Hosted by Andy PlimerCALL FOR RESEARCHCall for research participants – Study 1Survey “A Study on coaching philosophy in rugby union” John Widdowson https://edinburgh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/a-study-of-the-artifacts-beliefs-values-and-philosophyStudy 2Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) - Global screening of high-performance and recreational athletes -  All athletes (male and female, recreational to elite, able-bodied or para-athletes), over the age of 15 are invited to participate in this surveyhttps://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/REDS-GlobalTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textDan chats to Lisa Lane Brown about how we can practically improve mental toughness with our athletes and players.Drawing on her experience, first as a world-class ice hockey player and then as a mental skills coaches, she gives us recognisable steps for flipping the switch from nerves into confidence.She explains her three Cs, why her mother inspired her to shoot more, why do you lose your confidence and how to get it back.To find out more about Lisa Lane Brown's guides to mental toughness, visit her at Courage to Win.Rugby Coach Weekly subscribers can download her free guide: Never Choke Again, Stop Losing and Start Winning Today, here.Lisa Lane Brown is the world’s leading personal success coach using the power of the Courage to Win.® She is famous for helping  people create success and unconditional happiness fast, without superficial self-help or never-ending therapy. Entrepreneur Magazine called the Courage to Win®, "A straightforward guide to success, highly recommended."A 3-time World Champion in her sport, Lisa has worked with over 7,652 executives, Olympic athletes, and high achievers in over 34 countries to help them reach their goals. To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly To find out more about our Partner Club offer, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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 a textBird and LJ welcome to the podcast Carol Isherwood, OBE.Carol was a founder member of the women's RFU, captain Great Britain and England international teams in their games. She was the first woman to achieve a L3 coaching award in England and was performance director of women's rugby in England too.As well as being awarded an OBE for services to women's rugby, she is in the World Rugby Hall of Fame and consults for World Rugby.They asked Carol the following questions:Take us back to 1981 when you first set up a women’s team at Leeds University. What was it like to be a women’s rugby player back then, how hard was it to set up and get people to take Women’s rugby seriously?You were the first secretary of the Women’s Rugby Football Union/Board When did the RFU come on board and what were the benefits of merging with them?In 1987 you were appointed as National Coaching and development Officer then Technical Director in a voluntary role from 1987-1995 ( 8 years!). Both massive roles: What was your full-time job during this time and how did you manage both roles? (were you still playing then?)You held a variety of coaching roles from 1992-1998 and were the first woman to receive the RFU L3 coaching Award. What was it like being the only female on the course? How have things changed for females aspiring to become coaches?From 1997-2008 you became a paid Performance Director for the RFUW. What changes did you implement and what were you most proud of achieving in this role?In 2009 you became lead in Rugby Performance and Governance for Scotland women’s rugby. What changes did you implement here?You are currently a consultant for World Rugby and have set up the women’s high-performance coaching programme. What growth have you seen across the world in terms of female coaches and what needs to happen now in different countries to support this programme?What was it like working in the FA? What was the biggest learning/ differences from working in football and 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, there's a great webinar coming up: FIND OUT MORE HEREAlso, 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!