Ben Herring returns to the Rugby Coach Weekly Podcast to dive deeper into what he’s learned from speaking to some of the world’s top coaches. Drawing on his global coaching journey and his Coaching Culture podcast, Ben shares why grassroots rugby should focus on high care rather than high performance, why the 80% basics matter more than the 1% details, and how resilience and leadership can be actively coached.
This episode blends big lessons from names like Joe Schmidt, Steve Hansen and Mike Cron with practical takeaways you can use at club and school level.
✅ Key takeaways
- High care over high performance: Build environments that reflect what you, as a coach, truly care about.
- Focus on the 80%: Grassroots players need core skills done well, not the 1% “gold taps” of elite rugby.
- Delivery is everything: The best coaches make even the simplest drills engaging through presence, tone and standards.
- Coach resilience deliberately: Use structures, reviews and simple tools (like huddle blueprints) to build grit.
- Pressure as privilege: High-performance coaches often find joy in pressure – grassroots coaches can too, by reframing challenges as opportunities.
Listen to Ben's podcast here, and discover his books as well.
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