Rugby Coach Weekly

Dan quizzes the Myths of Sports Coaching editors around how we deal with some of the muddling thinking coaches believe is true.

Dr Amy Whitehead is an Associate Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, and Jenny Coe is the Performance Well-Being Lead for the Women's Professional Game at the FA.

Their first edition was so good that they’ve been persuaded to do a second edition, which will be out in the autumn.

Dan chats to Telegraph sports journalist Fi Tomas about where women’s rugby needs to go next. 

Fi has worked on the paper since 2019, was number 11 on 2023 BBC Women's Hour Power List and recently nominated for the 2023 British Sports Journalism women’s category. She is a keen advocate for a stronger voice in female sports.

In the podcast, they look at:

• Why women want to play rugby
• The hurdles facing women in sport
• How the medi...

Ralph Knibbs, Head of Human Resources at UK Athletics and a Bristol rugby legend, chats with Samba Ceesay, Broad Plain RFC’s captain.

In an extraordinary podcast, Ralph first describes his journey as a black player from a non-traditional rugby background, why he turned down playing for England twice and how his children made him more self-aware about being a role model.

He then asks Samba about his journey. Coming to rugby late, Samb...

This podcast is dedicated to the memory of one of the guest's daughter, who passed away suddenly a few weeks after the recording.

The Peel family have set up a donation page for Katie in support of FarmAbility. Here's a link.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/katiepeelfarmability

Please listen to this inspiring journey of three coaches providing something amazing. It needs us all to reflect on se...

Dan chats with Dr Rachael Jefferson about fundamental movement skills and how to introduce them effectively into our coaching sessions.

Rachael is a lecturer in human movement studies and creative arts, and author of Fundamental fun: 132 activities to develop fundamental movement skills.

You can get a copy of her book here.

In the podcast, we explore:

• What is meant by fundamental movement skills (FMS)
• W...

Dan chats with Chris Dossett, chair of the Professional Association of the Directors in Sport, and very experienced DoS himself.

In the podcast, they talk about:

• How a good director of sports supports their less-experienced staff
• Connecting with the players
• Making the less-able teams enjoy rugby as much as the top-flight
• What equality looks like in sports in a school environment
• How to make girls' sport part of the fab...

Dan chats to Jess Hayden, author of The Red Roses: Behind the Scenes with the England Women's Rugby Team.

Jess, who was previously a sports journalist at The Times and The Sunday Times, is the editor of Contested, a new social app for sports fans.

In writing the book, she was able to get exclusive access to the England Women's team, known at the Red Roses, plus speak to former players and coaches.

In the ...

In this episode, Dan chats with Sean Lindersmith. They discuss how he created a coaches’ coffee club, and how he made it a genuine place to learn and support each other.

Sean is the Vice President of Operations at Premier Rugby Sevens and Silicon Valley Rugby - defence and forwards coach.

His past roles include University of MN Head Coach, US Coast Guard Sevens Head Coach, St Augustine High School Head Coach, MN Youth Rugby Youth and...

Dr Jocelyn Solomons joins Dan on the podcast to discuss her research on how dance can improve rugby players.

Based at the world-renowned Stellenbosch University in South Africa, she is a lecturer in strength and conditioning.

She has a PhD in women's rugby development and an MSc in Sport Science focusing on rhythmic movement and rugby.

In the podcast we explore:

• How you persuade rugby players that dance can make a difference
• Ho...

Mike Penistone is a global rugby coach, starting his coaching career in the 80s with Trent Poly and then Cambridge University rugby league as head coach. He went on to GB Student's head coach before moving to Leicester Tigers Academy via Nottingham. He did a stint at NSW Waratahs and then Eastern Suburbs in Australia. He is now a rugby coach consultant.

In the podcast, we cover:

• How to make a great first impression as a coac...

Dan Cottrell chats to author and coach, J.P. Nerbun about his latest book, The Sports Parent Solution, Proven Strategies for Transforming Parents from Obstacles to Allies.

We explore how coaches can get the most out of their relationships with parents. Sometimes they are super-supportive, and sometimes not!

How do you get them onside to start with, speak to them, involve them and make them part of everyone's ...

Welcome to the Coaching Knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Tom Chaloba, Manager of Get Into Rugby Zambia.
Focusing on volunteering we are going to cut to the root on how to build a group of volunteers and retain them.

Tom is a coach and match official educator at Zambia Rugby Union, as well as working with the Tag Rugby Trust. He is the founder of Die Hard Rugby academy.

His philosophy is ai...

Welcome to the Coaching Knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Professor Kevin Till, Professor of Athletic Development at Leeds Beckett University and Strength and Conditioning Coach at Leeds Rhinos RLFC academy. Focusing on warm-ups, we are going to explore how they are used to prevent injury and give us performance gains.

Kev has worked in strength and conditioning with Yorkshire cricket, Yorkshi...

Welcome to the Coaching Knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Craig Gunn, coach, teacher and motivational educator, and founder of Gunn Engagement. Focusing on why high-performance sport is dangerous for grassroots, we are going to cut to the root on why we need to break the brooms of the All Blacks.

Craig is an experienced PE teacher and former head teacher. He has worked across many sports, incl...

Welcome to the Coaching Knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Ian Costello, Head of Rugby Operations at Munster Rugby. Focusing on talent, we are going to focus on how that term might impact the way we approach coaching.

Ian has had a busy coaching career, with stints as assistant coach at Munster and Wasps, the Munster Academy manager, as well as head coach at Nottingham and an Elite De...

Welcome to the Coaching Knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Grant Doorey, performance coach @Mobicoach Australia and passion projects Rugby ATL, Queensland Rugby and Australia Rugby.

Focusing on the power of purpose in coaching and life, we are going to cut to the root on how we can turn thoughts into action.

Before becoming a consultant high-performance coach, Grant was an assistant co...

Dan chats with Gary Townsend, the Bristol Bears Junior Academy manager about a question from Will Jones, an U15s coach from Cardiff.

He asks: The backs are doing the forwards' work when it comes to the breakdown. Plenty of forwards are way too lazy and not bothering to clear out and secure the ball. Do you have any good drills we could use to get them switched back onto this?

We cover:

• What do the forwards...

Welcome to the coaching knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Keith Lewis, founder of rugbyreferees,net, the leading online community for rugby referees across the world

Focusing on the refereeing the new tackle height laws, we are going to cut to the root of what referees will be looking for next season.

Philosophy: Helping people to become better referees, no matter what level that may be

Welcome to the coaching knife when we cut to the root of the matter. In this episode, we speak to Catherine Spencer, author, speaker, and former England women’s rugby captain.

Focusing on coaching women’s and girls’ rugby, we are going to cut to the root on what men need to know about coaching women. 

Catherine retired from international rugby in 2011, with 63 caps, 18 tries, winning 6 Six Nations titles, 3 for them as captain. She h...