0:02

This is heads of Robbyville, represented

0:04

by Robbyville.

0:15

Hello,

0:15

and welcome to this week's House of Rugby

0:17

Podcasts. I'm Hugh Wilson Croft joined

0:19

as ever by the record breaking Harrison

0:22

Alex Good. And of course World Cup

0:24

winner, Rachel Burford, too. And

0:26

both of them fresh from victories this weekend

0:28

against Edinburgh and sale respect

0:30

actively. How are you both? How are you doing? You're

0:32

looking Christmas y'all. Yeah.

0:34

Yeah. I thought last last one before

0:36

Christmas. Trying to get in the the festive spirit.

0:39

So also Christmas jumper and

0:41

a Christmas hat. So and I bought

0:43

you one. Yes. And I I am sporting it.

0:45

Yeah. It was against my wishes, but I've decided

0:47

to do it for team. We couldn't get Rachel's

0:49

to her because the the snow has impacted your

0:51

journey here to be with us, unfortunately. But

0:54

how are you doing?

0:55

Yeah. Sadly, I definitely wanted one of

0:57

those hats. Yeah. No. Good.

0:59

Doing good result of the weekend. And,

1:01

yeah, the snow is causing havoc as always.

1:04

As soon as this inches of snow gets on the floor,

1:06

the world goes into chaos.

1:07

Yes. It has. It has. So unfortunately,

1:10

we once again are not in the same place, as you

1:12

can tell I'm back from the World Cup, thirty

1:14

five degrees heat yesterday. Obviously,

1:17

snow laid in garden this morning. It's

1:19

brought me back down to worth. So hopefully,

1:21

this podcast and being with you is gonna cheer

1:23

me up little bit because it's a Christmas party, ultimately,

1:26

feeling festive final show before the New

1:28

Year. We're gonna be talking a little bit

1:30

about Christmasbatches when it comes

1:32

to rugby as well. I'm sure all of you out

1:34

there have some pretty deep stories. We'll

1:36

try our best to to keep it clean a little bit later

1:38

on. We're joined today our special guest,

1:40

former Wales International six nations

1:42

champion. Children's Author

1:44

now and Swancy RFC Back's Coach.

1:47

James Hook is with us. Hi, James. How's

1:49

it going guys? How are you? Thanks for having me on.

1:52

No. Brilliant. Brilliant that you can join us.

1:54

Are you feeling festive? No Christmas hat. You got

1:56

the decorations up in the house yet? I know

1:58

I feel like I let the team done. I didn't get a memo

1:59

today. It's our

2:00

fault. It's our fault. It's my fault. Sorry.

2:03

Yeah. Well well, listen. Sometimes you do get the memo.

2:05

You still don't show up in the right thing. We'll talk about that

2:07

a little bit later on as well. But you are

2:09

a man of many talents, James,

2:11

joining Swansea RFC, coaching

2:14

now. Just tell us about this transition

2:17

this step. How are you finding it?

2:19

Yeah. Well, I would tell you just just before

2:21

Corvid saw I went

2:23

should have though we came back in COVID.

2:26

I wouldn't just course the academy in the aerospace

2:29

as a skills coach. And

2:31

then this year, I joined Swansea RFC.

2:33

So, yeah, a semi professional team

2:35

in Wales and, you know, the a couple of

2:37

the academy courses there as well. So yeah,

2:40

you know, it's just it's a it's a different

2:42

experience to me from playing, but, you know, it's

2:44

it's good that I'm still involved with being enjoying

2:46

it as well. And and James, how do you find

2:48

sort of like, helping those young

2:50

young players and old players as much as possible.

2:52

Like, how do you impact your skill

2:54

set across to them and and help them develop?

2:57

Yeah. It is tough and you you know

2:59

who do you know who's it's one thing playing,

3:01

you know, on the pitch week in, week out. We're trying

3:03

to, you know, put that across to to younger

3:05

players then is is another another matter.

3:08

So, know, actually, the well underpinned and put on,

3:10

like, professional players course, like, a level three

3:12

course So during Corvid, just before Corvid

3:14

and during Corvid on Zoom Corvid,

3:16

we were going through different courses there

3:18

with a few of the buyers who just intend to breakly

3:20

half penny, but they didn't listen. You know, it

3:22

just sort of gives you a an idea

3:24

of how to get your your point across and

3:26

how to, you know, the players do do pick up

3:28

on that then. James was gonna delve into

3:30

some more of your career. A little bit later

3:32

on, but let's deal with the big news of the

3:34

week last week. We recorded our

3:37

podcast. It was just a few hours

3:39

before the news broke. That Eddie Jones

3:41

was dismissed from the England job.

3:43

It was within a day of Warren Gatland's

3:45

announcement as Wayne Pivak's successor as

3:48

well. We're gonna really talk about

3:50

how things have fallen since from

3:52

European competition first round as well,

3:54

and the ultimate rugby Christmas party, all

3:56

of that on the agenda for today. But

3:59

let's start to the reaction to

4:01

England and Eddie Jones' dismissal,

4:03

Alex and Rachel. You've probably seen

4:05

some of the comments that have been made on

4:08

Joe's socials. Let me just tell you how

4:10

fans are feeling. is split.

4:13

Garrus saying correct decision, good guy performances.

4:15

Were getting progressively worse.

4:17

Tom says horrendous decision by the

4:19

RFU, which they will live to regret Dan,

4:22

saying five wins in thirteen, there's no

4:24

chance of doing anything in the World Cup with

4:26

him in charge. And Simeon Eddy

4:28

is the best coach England have

4:31

ever had. So there are not just

4:33

conflicting opinions, but right at each

4:35

end of the spectrum as well. Since

4:38

then, the focus obviously centered

4:40

on Steve Barthwick. He's the clear

4:42

successor Main sticking point is a

4:44

potential five hundred thousand pound

4:46

fee for the RFU to pay to

4:48

secure their man from leicester of calls.

4:50

We know it's a done deal really. It feels

4:52

like it is. There there won't be a twist

4:54

here. Well, they're goody. A lot of points there, I

4:56

think, with with Steve Wolfwick, Fairplay

4:59

to Lester. They obviously wanna get as

5:01

much compensation as possible. He's

5:03

done an incredible job there. He's

5:05

probably, you would guess, wanna take a

5:07

lot of the backroom staff that he's worked with.

5:10

People at Allen Waters, Simfield,

5:13

Wigglesworth, Matt Smith. Deacon. There's

5:15

a few guys there who definitely wanna take with

5:17

him. So they obviously wanna, you

5:19

know, keep as many people as possible. And

5:21

also, if not, get compensation

5:25

because it's mid season. They're they're

5:27

just one in Europe away. They're doing

5:29

alright in the premiership. They're they're reigning

5:31

champion. So that that will be a

5:33

massive change. And I

5:35

think with with Eddie, personally, I'm not

5:37

sure what's changed in the RFU

5:39

review. What changed the back end of the six nations

5:42

to now? Mhmm. They did a review.

5:44

They said, no. We're happy the direction he's going.

5:46

He wins in Australia, and then, you

5:48

know, it's a bad autumn, but for

5:51

me, I wouldn't have

5:53

changed him. I think

5:55

this close to the woke up. It's very difficult

5:57

for any coach coming in. I feel

5:59

that Eddie has got a good record

6:02

at World Cups in major

6:04

tournaments. And yes, performances

6:06

aren't great now, but it's just such little

6:08

time for anyone to come in and change too much.

6:10

So now I've gotta get behind whoever

6:12

is the successor and get behind

6:14

them completely and cheer them on. Rachel,

6:17

can you understand why this is split opinion

6:19

so much? Yeah.

6:20

Definitely. I think, naturally, we probably

6:23

all have a bit of split opinion around it as

6:25

well. When it was coming out, we weren't sure. And

6:27

for the majority of people not

6:29

seeing the results is what's what's

6:32

right in front of them. And and that's

6:34

then what builds on that media

6:36

attention, people calling for change,

6:38

and and that makes people talk. So I guess,

6:40

last back of six nations when you're doing the

6:42

review. You think you've got more time. There's

6:44

more opportunity. And the RFU felt that they

6:46

could still see and believe

6:48

in Eddie's vision. And obviously, that's changed

6:51

since the autumn and that's why the big

6:53

changes come in for that to happen. And

6:55

interesting here in what I am farrell saying this

6:57

week as well around, you know, Eddie shouldn't have

6:59

taken the cop for it. And, you know,

7:01

he doesn't believe that it's come from the players and

7:03

that he's busy appointed, you know, change is

7:05

hard, especially when you've got a major

7:07

tournament coming around the corner. So it's gonna be

7:09

a big ass whoever does step into

7:11

those shoes, but But I

7:13

think it for me, I think the change

7:15

did need to happen. You

7:17

can't continue to have disappointing

7:20

results and and not be able to see

7:22

elements of what you're trying to work towards,

7:25

then that's the biggest thing. Is there, you know,

7:27

Eddie talk about having a great plan

7:29

and and it you know, record

7:31

does prove that he does in major tournaments,

7:33

but the lack of vision to be able

7:35

to see that and then also believe in it

7:37

are two different things. So I think that

7:39

the changes come because they are if

7:41

you no longer can see that vision. James,

7:43

what your thoughts on it? Can you understand

7:45

why Eddie Jones in England went

7:47

in their separate ways? I I

7:50

think, like Rachel said, obviously, they're based and

7:52

judged on on results, but I gotta be honest.

7:54

I I was quite surprised, like like

7:56

you say, a year ago from the World Cup, you know, I

7:58

was quite actually looking forward to seeing how

7:59

he was gonna get his his team

8:02

prepared and how he's gonna forge our

8:04

World Cup. So yeah, it did did surprise

8:06

me a little bit, you know, and, you know, once you

8:08

have three, six, nations type those in the work at

8:10

five, seven years. So, you know,

8:12

he's he's been pretty successful really,

8:14

and I know the last few that results haven't

8:16

gone his way. So yeah.

8:17

From from the outside, there was a little bit of surprises.

8:19

Gotta be honest. Steve Barthwick, most

8:21

definitely gonna be the man in charge can't see it

8:23

not being here and his team, as you mentioned,

8:25

defeated a Osprey. At the weekend,

8:27

great try from Anthony Watson, we'll talk about European

8:30

rugby more specifically, a little bit later on.

8:32

After the game, he said he was fully

8:35

focused on facing Claremont next weekend.

8:38

What can we expect from a Steve

8:40

Borthwick? England. And what

8:42

are their realistic expectations next

8:45

year? The six nations in February, the World

8:47

Cup, of course, with this kind of

8:49

upheaval. What could we predict

8:51

the future will be, like, in the

8:53

short term, under Steve Bullwick, you know, the

8:55

crystal ball. With

8:57

the it was simple that I think you're gonna get

8:59

a real real clear identity and

9:01

clarity, which for players is

9:03

is actually the best thing. If you

9:05

know exactly what's expected of you,

9:07

what hard work is, what

9:09

physicality is where you gotta go

9:11

from a to b, then you can just

9:13

completely release self to give it

9:15

everything, go balls out. I think having

9:17

that clarity is everything. And he will give

9:19

that to every single player.

9:21

He'll have high demands on

9:23

the players, which you expect at international

9:25

level. And he's got an understanding of

9:27

what it's like in an international camp.

9:29

He's not foreign to it. He had

9:32

five, six years with with England

9:34

under Eddie. He'd been with Japan

9:36

before that. He understands the international

9:38

environment. And I think

9:40

first things first, when any new coach comes

9:42

in, you know, work work with the foundations.

9:44

Let's make sure England are

9:46

very strong in the set piece,

9:48

defensive game, and kicking game,

9:50

something that he's fantastic at.

9:52

I know it sounds boring, but that's

9:54

the fundamentals. You you start working

9:56

on that during the six nations makes

9:59

yourself very hard to beat, then you can

10:01

start layering on attack each

10:03

week you know, each time you meet

10:05

up together. But that will be the long the

10:07

hardest thing to get the attack, which is probably

10:09

saying England wanna work on first

10:11

and foremost. But make them very hard

10:13

to beat, make them work unbelievably hard,

10:15

and that's what Steve will do. What

10:17

are you expecting to see Rachel from

10:19

Stifel Foods England? I

10:20

that kind of no nonsense approach,

10:22

like really direct, real clear

10:25

clarity on players, big honest

10:27

conversations with individuals,

10:30

There'd be probably the first things that I think

10:32

he would wanna go in and make sure that he

10:34

establishes himself as a coach

10:36

in that role. I

10:38

think Alex touched on it just a moment ago around,

10:40

you know, what's his support

10:42

system gonna look like? Because that's really

10:44

important to to how he

10:46

then can operate and be able to

10:48

bring in those fundamentals. What's that gonna

10:50

look like? She's gonna need a strong support around

10:52

him. But I think, you know, I

10:54

think players will really understand

10:56

where they stand and and what's

10:58

expected of them, which it has such

11:00

a dramatic change to players

11:02

when you know your direction, you know as an

11:04

individual where you are, and what's expected

11:06

of you to continue hearing what

11:08

players talk about who have been coached under

11:10

him, you know, he's very much no nonsense,

11:12

getting get the work done. We're

11:14

not messing about. And I think, you know, he'll have

11:16

that stamp straight off. Did you

11:18

think that's where the word broke down for Eddie in

11:21

terms of their attack. You know, again, they

11:23

watch you with like, I massive fan

11:25

of of Faz and Markus Smith and

11:27

world class players and I mean, say, like,

11:29

from from an outside of that, how you

11:31

thought that works and how it does

11:33

work from an England point of view. I

11:35

mean,

11:35

there's so many reports, isn't there about all

11:37

the changes, positional players

11:40

going into camp, being capped,

11:43

then they're out. And and that kind

11:45

of over time, that has a

11:47

massive impact. And if you're

11:49

unsure of where your stand ins are or

11:51

where you're suited in a team or where you

11:53

can get your utilize your best

11:55

strengths. That does disrupt

11:58

the team. So I think that definitely

12:00

has an impact on it. The number of

12:02

players that we've seen come and go without

12:04

given a real opportunity or an opportunity to

12:06

back things up. And there's so much

12:08

of that chat around Marcus and

12:10

Owen should be the ten and

12:12

Marcus should be a that comes off the

12:14

bench or or vice versa. You know,

12:16

fans don't know what to expect, players don't

12:18

know what to expect, and that can just cause such

12:20

an upheaval. Yeah.

12:21

What what does Owen prefer?

12:24

Goody? Ten or twelve? Does does he

12:26

mean? I think he

12:28

wants to he he wants to play for England

12:30

ultimately. Yep. I personally think

12:32

he's a world class ten

12:34

and he's built for TestMax Rugby. And

12:37

I think you put him in there and let him

12:39

run everything and dictate things

12:41

and he's he'll show you how well how

12:43

good he is as he has done previously.

12:46

I I think your your question before about

12:48

was it the attack the letting them down or the

12:50

Eddie down at the end? I don't

12:52

think it was just that. No. I think Unfortunately,

12:54

in this autumn, there were a number of things.

12:56

Like, you know, we were letting in thirty odd

12:58

points, I think, against Argentina, against

13:02

South Africa, you know, defense

13:04

wasn't great. Set piece wasn't at its best. And

13:06

then the occasional attack was it

13:08

felt like only when we were down

13:11

a lot of points when we were chasing a game that we

13:13

started to attack better. So

13:15

I think a number of things there

13:17

probably were the problem. But

13:19

but I I guess as you know

13:21

from playing ten and twelve, you

13:24

know, the relationship there for ten and

13:26

twelve, it does take time. It doesn't just

13:28

happen overnight. And you know,

13:30

for Marcus and Owen to play

13:32

together, it wasn't gonna be something that worked

13:34

straight away. It it will take

13:36

a long time. Will they have that time now with a different

13:38

coach? I don't know. That

13:41

said, you know, you could put o in at ten. You've

13:43

got SLADE. It's not to Elanghi.

13:45

There's there's lots of other options there, but

13:47

it'll be interesting to see what the new coach does

13:49

there. Just a quick answer then. Are we

13:51

gonna get a positive twenty twenty three under

13:53

Steve Bullwick? Will they get better in England. Yeah.

13:55

I think they all get better. I

13:58

think you you ever need a motivator

14:01

for a national sign. And and

14:03

you guys know that that someone

14:05

coming in and being a good auditor and

14:07

and motivating you. You shouldn't need that as an

14:09

international player. It's more, you know,

14:11

tactical, technical, how you can

14:13

improve those aspects, little bits

14:15

and having that clarity. So

14:17

I think Steve will will do a great job

14:19

if if as he always does as a coach,

14:22

if it's him and, you know, good luck to

14:24

him. What players we'll

14:27

Steve both of it want to include. I

14:29

personally think Alex Good needs to come back into an

14:31

England shirt very, very soon. But

14:33

aside from him, who do you think he's gonna pick? Yeah. What do you

14:35

think? Present company excluded. Mhmm.

14:37

I I think,

14:40

you know, back to this ten, twelve,

14:42

I think he'll be key as to who is

14:44

ten is, and he'll he'll pick that. His nine

14:46

ten combination, he'll wanna nail down

14:48

and go through from

14:50

the six nations all the way to the World

14:52

Cup. And I think you'll wanna keep a

14:54

team pretty much together from throughout

14:56

the six nations into the World Cup. That's how short his

14:58

time is together. Reality that's

15:01

probably eight games

15:03

before the first game in the World Cup

15:05

and they're gonna need every single

15:07

minute of those games together to get some

15:09

cohesion. So I don't think the majority

15:11

of the squad will change. There'll be a couple of

15:13

players coming in here and there, whether you'll see

15:15

a chess Chesham even --

15:17

Mhmm. -- from Lester coming

15:19

in, Anthony

15:21

Watson coming back, Courtney Laws coming back

15:23

will be big players. You know,

15:26

under he'll be fit, someone

15:29

like Benno coming into the mix with

15:31

his explosive nature.

15:34

There's so much talent in England, you

15:36

know, that you could, you know, Rachel could pick

15:38

another template. So if you could have mentioned templates, it's like,

15:40

well, I haven't mentioned so. And we'll see

15:42

what happens, but I think he'll try and

15:44

keep the majority of the squad, people who he

15:46

has worked with before, he knows the

15:48

good players together. James,

15:50

do you think that all goes into a

15:52

a positive start for Steve Barthwick if

15:54

he can make those changes? Yeah. I can say he's only

15:56

telling myself to my workshop, so he don't wanna change

15:58

too much and

15:59

also, she's gonna come in with new ideas who's gonna be a, you

16:02

know, a favorable change anyway. So,

16:04

yeah, I can't imagine it's gonna be too much

16:06

personal change, but it's just, you know, tweaking

16:08

a few tactics. Attack lights that

16:10

you already mentioned, and this is so much

16:12

quality there. It sounds included. Cool. You

16:14

bet.

16:14

Thanks, mate. Absolutely. Absolutely. If you

16:16

quit the post. Let's talk

16:18

about Wales, James, because they're in

16:20

a similar situation at the moment. All the England

16:23

drama, almost overshadowing

16:25

the news around Warren Gatlin's

16:27

reappointment. He admitted

16:30

himself, his whale's legacy is on the

16:32

line by taking the job up

16:34

once again. Yeah. You must have been desperate

16:36

for a change of fortunes, of course,

16:38

for this wealth side, given the autumn. You've

16:40

worked with Warren Gatland for for

16:42

so long. You've

16:44

seen so much success with him in

16:47

charge. Do you think his legacies

16:49

on the line? Do you agree with him, you

16:51

know, on that point? And do you think he can add

16:53

to his legacy? Yeah. Well,

16:55

hopefully, you can. You know, I think it's it's a tougher

16:57

job from coming in this time around. I think,

16:59

you know, again, similar to where do

17:01

you think it's a result business,

17:03

three wins out of twelve away in Peabag and

17:05

I think

17:05

losing Italy at home in the six nations

17:08

then obviously Georgia and the other man that

17:10

have the result. You know,

17:12

you don't like to see anyone losing their job, but, you know, as

17:14

I say, sort of, that's business. And, you know, we

17:16

had to have some sort of change there.

17:18

So whether Gatlin will the same

17:20

sort of success he had when he came in, in

17:22

two thousand and eight. In August, in two thousand and

17:24

seven, we got knocked off the World Cup against

17:26

Fiji. He

17:26

came straight in with Shawn Edwards

17:28

Rob Howley. We wanna ground slam straight away. So whether we

17:30

love that team success, and I think you look

17:32

at the players,

17:33

Gartner, had had his disposal back

17:37

back then. You know, and a couple years

17:39

into his reign, you know, he got more

17:41

than Lidgett, Salator, John and

17:43

Davis, John Jamie Roberts

17:45

coming through. I think the

17:47

biggest transfer to Gartner is, can he can he find the next streamer,

17:49

Robert, Samuel, and etcetera? Do do

17:51

you think with the Gartner it

17:53

probably helps him that I say rock bottom

17:55

for Wales at my you know, the region seemed

17:57

to be a bit of a mess, losing the Georgia

17:59

is a is a real low point. Do you think

18:01

that helps him. The fact that

18:03

it's just a low point that there's not

18:05

much expectation. And then

18:07

secondly, with that, how important with Gatlin

18:09

do you think it is having

18:11

good assistant coaches from from all accounts. He's

18:13

not a big coach on the

18:16

field necessarily. So having those assistant

18:18

coaches is is so important.

18:19

Yeah. You're right to spot on. It's a win win

18:22

for that win. You know, like you say, he comes

18:24

in. He

18:24

turns wheels around. He's he's all of a

18:26

sudden the hero again. And if he doesn't,

18:28

you know, he can sort of playing the sort

18:31

of volume

18:31

headed and really and what's going on in well

18:33

strategy at the moment. So, yeah, I think it

18:36

is a win win in a way. But but like I just

18:38

now, it's it's still a tougher task to them

18:40

than than before. And and, yeah, the

18:42

bathrooms the bathroom staff would be interested in

18:44

think got Stephen George's attack courts

18:47

now. You just mentioned that Gartner

18:49

doesn't do an awful lot of courts and so

18:51

he wants to have court as well and then he

18:53

can trust whether he'll bring, you know, Rob

18:55

Howley's been mentioned, whether he'd bring Rob Howley

18:57

back. Getting Jake is is

18:59

defense court at the moment, and I know Gatelyn. Really

19:01

like working with Geth and Jenkins as a player. I'm not

19:03

I'm not sure of the relationship as a

19:05

coach. You know, I know Steve Tandy and

19:07

Gatelyn worked really well together in the

19:09

alliance torso. I think, you know, September

19:11

the fourth week, the backroom staff is gonna be

19:13

key, and I'm sure we hear, you know,

19:15

something about that in the next in the next

19:17

few weeks. Have you

19:18

got a strong belief that Warren Gatlin will turn things

19:20

around for Wales? I hope so.

19:22

I hope so. You know, I think

19:25

Gatlin had a very simple game plan.

19:27

You work on the corner in

19:29

between the fifteen's off ten. You

19:31

work on the corner off nine outside

19:33

the fifteen's. You use a big bore,

19:35

cardio, Jimmy Roberts, the middle.

19:38

And what what

19:38

was big for Warren Gartner's success

19:41

was was Shawn Edwards, you know,

19:43

the

19:43

defense that Wales had. So

19:45

Hosiery hornet's is with France now. He's not gonna

19:47

come back. So, you know, we won a lot of games

19:49

and a lot of championships based

19:51

on our defense. So it's gonna be

19:53

in a percent, obviously, obviously, hopefully, you know, we

19:55

can turn it around and, you know, also short period of

19:57

time for the World Cup. But, you know, he's he's got

19:59

an option

19:59

to stay beyond for the next world captain, he was talking about

20:02

him going upstairs sort of

20:04

DOR and sort

20:05

of having the courses underneath him as well. So

20:07

I will be able to sense

20:09

hopefully hopefully you can you can do a

20:12

job.

20:12

Maybe you have to dust off your boots

20:14

because I heard you were playing pretty well at

20:16

your testimony all the other day. You know? Oh,

20:18

you're on fire apparently, so still

20:21

a chance. Oh, I talk talk about a week to get all

20:23

of it as well, so I was no chance,

20:25

man. Is this for you one

20:27

of the big elements of of Gatlin's

20:29

new role, reconnecting

20:32

the club game, the regions in

20:34

Wales? Obviously, there are strong

20:36

and differing opinions on what should happen next

20:38

in terms of of Welsh rugby. Is

20:40

is Gatlin the the figurehead, if you like, to

20:42

be able to bring people back together, bring

20:44

the game back together? Yeah. Well, and

20:46

hopefully, you know, we all know the sort of the reason of

20:49

the game is is not not great at the

20:51

moment and you know, that reconnect them with

20:53

the fans and and grassroots rugby

20:55

is is something that needs to happen in real.

20:57

So whether Gatelyn will will

20:59

come and take that role, Audi's just employed as as a

21:01

coach will remain to be seen.

21:03

But, you know, hopefully, we can we

21:05

can sort that out really. Do you think that

21:07

if

21:07

Wales start winning and

21:09

have success. That will just filter down,

21:11

then people will wanna, you know, go and watch

21:13

the regions more and the the the the feel good

21:15

fact, you know, rugby so big in Wales that

21:17

if the national team does well, then everything

21:20

else falls in in line.

21:22

Yeah. Hopefully. But I think I think it probably goes a

21:24

little bit deeper than that. You know, it's it's talk of

21:26

players leaving, obviously, the the

21:28

funding with the regions and the union. They've just

21:30

sort of verbally agreed as sort

21:32

of six year your deal, but, you

21:34

know, players for next, you don't know whether they've got

21:36

a contract at the moment. So, you know, it's

21:38

talk of a brief, I'll have to go

21:40

to Samsung at the moment. center Max Lauele in

21:43

was playing for Cardiff as left. He

21:45

knows there's a lot of uncertainty in Wales at the moment

21:47

and and and these players obviously, as you know, we've

21:49

got to look after themselves and their

21:51

families. So if it's offers elsewhere in France or England, you

21:53

know, they're gonna take it unless the

21:55

union step in with with good offers, you

21:57

know? James, let's talk a little

21:58

bit more. Look back at

22:00

what a wonderful career was that you had,

22:02

eighty one welsh caps, two grand

22:04

slams, three six nations

22:06

wins with the British and Irish lines you

22:08

toured in two thousand and nine. You're now a

22:10

children's author, by the way, so you can

22:12

still get chasing a rugby dream

22:14

in time for Christmas if you're looking for a

22:16

present. But let's go back to that

22:18

that generation of players that you had a wonderful generation

22:20

of players who did everything that we're

22:22

hoping can happen in the future under Gatlin, you

22:24

know, reignited the welsh game

22:27

what do you think was key for

22:29

that happening in terms of your

22:31

group? I think we did have a

22:34

targeted sort of generation and like I

22:36

mentioned, just now, two thousand and seven, we got knocked out

22:38

to Fiji and,

22:40

you know, Wells Fargo using a bit of disarray. And

22:42

then, yeah, Gartner came in. He probably just just simplified

22:45

things and his first game in charge against England in two

22:47

thousand and eight. I don't think he knew a great deal

22:49

about the world's players, I got to be honest. So he picked third

22:51

in our space against England for the first six

22:53

nations game. And because

22:55

the hospitals were pretty successful at the time.

22:57

And, yeah, I still don't know to this day. I would

22:59

actually beat England that day because we were shopping in

23:01

the first half and It just turned around in the second half.

23:03

And I sometimes, you know, I think Google just mentioned that,

23:05

you know, just need a little bit of confidence, you

23:07

know, a big win or or a big big

23:09

second half in that case. Just

23:12

to to motivate the boys and yeah.

23:14

You know, it it's some great memories like you say,

23:16

you know, some of the success, six nations titles, you

23:18

know, some some brilliant memories. Gatland was

23:20

massive on sort of the mindset and the

23:23

psychology. He used to

23:23

always say that, you know, Wales boys,

23:26

you know, you know, fitness team

23:28

going You know, we've been to all these camps that

23:30

spoke to the New Zealand fitness courts, you

23:32

know, our scores are much better. And you

23:34

you put a real belief in the players. Then

23:36

when he left, you know, he said he made all that up, so he's gonna have to think of something

23:38

else. No. He it's

23:41

it's it's funny that because you

23:43

say, any new coach comes in, be the same for whoever

23:45

comes in for England. If you just

23:47

get a win, that first game or

23:49

couple of wins, it's amazing how

23:51

the belief grows and then everyone starts to buy

23:54

into everything, you know, as opposed

23:56

to you lose the first two and people, I'm not

23:58

sure about this and And,

24:00

you know, you've said it there. Gatlin

24:02

gets to win against England.

24:04

Yeah. You're proving how we've done that, but then you

24:06

start to believe, oh, we are fit we are stronger in

24:08

the second half, and it has a huge effect on

24:10

the group. Right? Hundred percent. Hundred percent. Yeah.

24:12

And it's just that that confidence and belief and

24:14

I think that that first game game is saying that we had won

24:17

there for twenty odd years. And it's just

24:19

you just think, you know, we're actually a decent

24:21

team with some decent players here, and we

24:23

we beat Scotland at home, the next

24:25

game. And all of a sudden, like I said, you're on a

24:27

roll and and, yeah,

24:27

you win a grand slam, and and that's where the the

24:30

success came and I I mentioned some of the boys who

24:32

come in a little bit later on then, your your war

24:34

potentially d s Falatose, John and

24:36

DMSD's boys. And, yeah, the

24:38

success just went went from there

24:40

to there. Gotta ask you

24:40

about this book, James. You you write

24:42

the children's book yourself. Why did you decide to

24:44

do that? So it's

24:46

it's a core author, my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my

24:49

breathing breathing We got we got two boxes

24:51

in a rugby dream now. So it's

24:53

a it's a fictional book. It was actually when I was playing

24:55

in Gloucester. I've got

24:57

three boys. My eldest

24:57

boy just wanted wanted a rugby

24:59

a rugby book. There's a book fair after school,

25:02

and so I just said, yeah, we'll we'll go in go in

25:04

after school and grab one. I couldn't

25:06

find one. So I said, we'll have a look on

25:08

on the Internet when I get back and I just

25:10

couldn't find any. So he just got me thinking

25:11

especially in in Wales and I didn't let the other

25:14

kids that might be mad and I thought

25:16

there must

25:16

be, you know, must be something I would dare

25:18

for it. And so I got in touch with Dave Brieley.

25:20

I'm just told him about my ideas. Like, say, I'm

25:22

I'm not an author of Dave. So

25:25

I I had a lot of ideas written down

25:27

and and going back to what I'm saying, it's a it's a

25:29

fictional book, but it's based on a lot of

25:31

my

25:31

experiences during my my

25:33

professional career. I mean, international career and and

25:35

my my childhood grown up. So, yeah, like I

25:38

say,

25:38

we got we got two books out at the moment. Hopefully,

25:40

we we're gonna start working through it now in the New Year. So Yeah.

25:43

It's something a bit different, honey.

25:45

Lovely stuff. Lovely stuff. Check it out if

25:47

you can. And finally, I've got to

25:49

ask you. We mentioned the tire a

25:51

little bit earlier on. You're at an

25:53

event recently. You you know, you you

25:55

put it in the in the group. We've all been there.

25:57

What's the dress code utterly

25:59

stitched up? Yeah. Yep.

26:00

We had an event Friday for

26:02

the New Zealand game in the autumn and, yeah,

26:04

Lee

26:04

Lee Boone, myself, Lee

26:07

Boone, my Alex and Shane Williams, we're we're

26:09

doing the event. And I just put in the group

26:11

about an hour before I went just

26:12

what was what's the dress code, so Lee Boone

26:14

put in just black tie. So I didn't think I meant

26:16

all of it. I saw on the on the itinerary. There's a

26:18

five course meals with us. A five course meal is

26:20

a good chance. It's gonna be black tie in it.

26:22

So I put my black tie on to end up

26:25

and did in the sivis and

26:27

yeah. I I looked at Smart as a bunch of shots here,

26:29

I guess. Yep. It would be worse than usual opposite where you won't, isn't

26:31

it? Yeah. Yeah. It would have been. Definitely. But

26:34

it's me overdressing. I think so. I

26:36

think so. Right. We'll get some some

26:38

of your Christmas party thoughts a little bit later on

26:40

as well. You probably shared some good times with the

26:42

boys that you can tell us about. But before

26:44

we move on, let's return to

26:47

our our agony uncle feature.

26:49

Ask Alex. Alex asked

26:51

last week please deliver him a Christmas

26:53

themed question Well, let's see if the

26:55

listeners did indeed deliver.

27:01

Hi, Alex. My family are always arguing

27:03

over the

27:03

TV remote and never more so than over the

27:05

Christmas break. So I wanna know what's

27:07

the number one Christmas film you'll be watching in

27:09

the next few weeks. Are

27:11

you more of a die or a love actually kind of guy?

27:14

Thanks and happy holidays. Great

27:17

question. That's

27:17

a great question. Yeah.

27:22

Probably used to be very much a

27:24

diehard man. I think now, you

27:26

know, more really emotional and

27:28

soppy. I think the holiday is is what I like.

27:30

The holiday. Yeah. But then

27:32

a bit humor, the Grinch. So

27:35

a bit different, but I I

27:37

quite like the

27:39

holiday. It's like that Christmas y --

27:41

Mhmm. -- in the snow. And

27:44

I'm a big Cameron Diaz fan. Because

27:46

she's a great actor,

27:48

everyone. A great actor. But,

27:51

yeah, if if not the Grinch.

27:53

It's okay. I find that quite funny.

27:56

Rachel, what about you? I

27:57

do like the holiday too, but

28:00

I love watching the elf.

28:01

Yeah.

28:02

I just think it's funny. There's always

28:04

moments in it that just make you laugh

28:06

year on

28:06

year. Okay.

28:08

Yeah. My my wife's favorite, the

28:10

holiday goodies, so She's she's I've always said she's

28:12

a great girl. Why?

28:16

But tell me home home home loan

28:18

one and two. Must have watched

28:20

them about four times last week when the kids start. Classic. Yeah.

28:23

Brilliant. I'll

28:23

go for serendipity. Check

28:26

it out. Unbelievable. You always ask

28:28

me to cover this one. Kate Beck himself. Yeah.

28:30

John Cusick, it's

28:32

it's, you know, it's just a a high

28:34

quality not even rom com romantic

28:37

drama, and they just said it at Christmas. It's not

28:39

too deeply Christmas, but it it you

28:41

know, if you love love like me,

28:43

you'll love this That's all I'm gonna say. To be honest, actually,

28:45

I'm gonna take the green chalk then, go home

28:47

alone. Just the soundtrack to that. I'll see me

28:49

playing it a lot at the moment for my little

28:51

one and, yeah, walking around the Christmas

28:53

tree, guess maybe time. I'm glad I'm

28:55

glad that we have hit Christmas film period of

28:57

year coming back from Doha where there

28:59

was absolutely no mention of Christmas.

29:01

I can now dive in deep. Okay?

29:03

And then ask Alex is gonna be back in the New Year,

29:05

by the way. No topics off limits. Thank you

29:07

for that question. You can grill him

29:09

drop us a voice note on what set the number is

29:12

in the podcast description as

29:14

ever. And leading on from that, we might as well talk

29:16

about our best rugby Christmas party story.

29:19

So Alex James Rachel, Spell

29:21

the beans, the best and worst,

29:23

nights out with your teammates celebrating

29:26

Christmas. Who's the biggest

29:28

liability? Which clubs do Christmas

29:30

best? You might as well tell us all about it, Richard.

29:32

I'm gonna start with you. Well,

29:34

we most recently went to Winswan's land as

29:36

our Christmas social just gone at

29:38

the weekend. And as you

29:40

can imagine, it's pretty big, so it

29:42

got quite loose. Everybody ended up

29:45

losing everybody. But

29:47

in terms of, like, liability,

29:49

I'd probably say Emma Sports,

29:52

classic. She's a nine, so of

29:54

course. But she she definitely is the biggest

29:56

liability. She's likely to get us kicked

29:58

out somewhere. If you can't find

30:00

her, just look for a table that she'll be trying to

30:02

dance on. But

30:04

I'd say relatively The

30:06

girls are pretty well behaved.

30:09

Right. I'd say Emma EmmaSource is

30:11

probably our biggest liability.

30:13

If

30:13

you've seen one of the Harlequin's players out and

30:15

about causing havoc. You can also let us know

30:17

the numbers in the podcast description because that

30:19

was way too way too civil,

30:21

I think, when it comes to what they've been

30:23

up to. Al? Yeah. I mean,

30:26

there's a couple Chris Pies. Usually,

30:29

he's always got the worst thing about rugby is that

30:31

it's quite a tough time of the year for rugby. So

30:33

you've got double headed. It's always been in Europe,

30:35

and then big games

30:37

at Christmas on years. So it's trying to find the

30:39

right time to have it.

30:41

But a couple of ones that are are quite

30:44

funny. Liability,

30:49

mister Cash Town. You can work

30:51

from that. It's a fake name, obviously.

30:53

He he was at a Chris Party and

30:55

was as being a liability

30:58

in that Two different

31:00

names. Tim Jamilton,

31:02

Scottish International promo,

31:05

had a really nice leather jacket and

31:07

for some reason mister Cashdown

31:10

decided that we didn't light leather jacket and

31:12

busied to, I think, Nick

31:14

hit with it apart, and then

31:16

ended up being hit with

31:18

a fire singers. So let me I think

31:20

him, Jamilton, is still

31:22

asking for money back from mister

31:24

Ashton now, really. So

31:26

that was that was a low point. That went on that saga

31:29

went on for quite a few few weeks. And there

31:31

were other players mentioned in there who'd

31:33

been part of it. A

31:35

coach at Lester. You can't work that one

31:37

out. So, yeah, it

31:39

was it was a bit of a a problem at the

31:41

club. The other one was a

31:43

guy called Tom White lose at Bristol

31:46

now. He brought a go

31:48

along to the Chris party, all the young

31:50

guys had to bring someone

31:52

along. Sends out she

31:54

was a complete nose and didn't

31:56

speak to him all night and was just following

31:58

Faz around. And I they did a poll that

32:00

was asking rugby questions all night and info's.

32:02

He he was mortified to

32:05

Wiley. Everyone was like, who is this? And

32:07

she she must have got a collection book at the

32:09

end of, like, signatures and

32:11

pictures. And just peppering a question.

32:13

Oh, no. He got hammered for that.

32:16

So, yeah, it'd be pretty upset that I've

32:18

mentioned that. So that that was a low point at

32:20

Christmas parties. But yeah.

32:22

Anyway Well, we are we are on staff today,

32:24

actually, with with the the club headquarters

32:26

of Swansea. So the the game was

32:28

actually called off. So we've got to play the game, and

32:30

after Christmas partly after. So the pitch was frozen

32:32

off. So the ref called it off, but one

32:34

o'clock was meant. We we started a bit

32:37

earlier. And, yeah,

32:39

we saw I'm still at thirty eight

32:41

now next June. I'll do an

32:43

initiation because the new quarter in

32:45

place. III thought I was

32:47

I thought I was done with all that,

32:49

but think,

32:49

to be honest, there's a lot more timid now with the initiations. Like, we

32:51

we have to we have to make a fight of

32:53

fight the laggard, fight the strong boat, fight

32:56

the guiness. then

32:57

top, so after you put the floodlates on

32:59

and you have to

32:59

give you like a a cricket. You have to keep

33:01

the cricket in your mouth. Keep it alive when you

33:03

split it on the pores, raise it on the pores.

33:06

And bring it back. You bring it back a leaf. You don't have to napkin.

33:09

Another sort of dirty drink then. So

33:11

yeah. That that that was my Saturday

33:13

anyway. No crickets were harmed in

33:15

the making of swansea RFC's

33:17

night out. Nice. Fantastic. I was

33:19

gonna say initiations. How did you find the

33:21

the one at Gloucester with the milk?

33:24

Didn't do it though. I didn't do it. So you saw Oh.

33:26

Aussie Richard hit by a joint the same time

33:28

as us, and aussie hit because he's got the

33:30

the long hair. You know you know the initiation of a

33:32

glass that obviously you're gonna drink at

33:35

least eight piece of milk in in

33:37

twenty minutes. And if you don't if you're

33:39

not sick, then you you keep your

33:41

hair. If you sick, they hedge

33:43

it. So OSHA went to them, I didn't

33:45

fancy that. So he basically got two, I think,

33:47

thirty twelve trees in America, Arkansas, and

33:49

the boys were sort of running at all. And

33:51

said, let's change the age limit. So if you're above

33:53

twenty six, you don't have to do it.

33:55

So That

33:55

is a

33:57

result. That's all it basically. Brilliant. Brilliant.

34:00

Now we know how much hebald's hair

34:02

means to him though. Well, you know, it's not just

34:04

loves himself. It's not just a fashion. It's a

34:06

lifestyle quite clearly. Okay. I know he loves himself.

34:08

Who can you tell that? Yeah. He thinks

34:10

you're ten out of ten that, bro. And he's a two out of ten. Alright, guys.

34:13

I think we should move on now. I

34:15

think I think enough teammates and ex teammates have

34:17

been thrown under the bus. In

34:19

terms of the Christmas parties. It's time to pass it on

34:21

once again, Rachel. Yeah. Every week, we wanna pay

34:23

tribute

34:23

to people and and

34:26

down the country. So we've got a writing

34:28

question this week for all of us,

34:30

and this comes from Roe

34:34

in Southwest. I play for old Prestonians who have an

34:36

extraordinary number of social

34:38

opportunities. They've got WhatsApp groups

34:40

for every

34:42

squad. Then there's a blood giving group, a dad's group, two

34:44

book club groups, a dogging group.

34:46

Now that's for people with dogs, not

34:49

any other activity, a curry

34:53

club. So I want to

34:55

ask you what's the most niche rugby

34:57

league that you've been part of. Well, I mean, the dog club, sure

34:58

they can get a unique name for that.

35:01

Sure. Just the dog club

35:03

would be better. Use

35:06

the word. I'm actually part of a niche club. So, yeah, that'll

35:08

be the the weirdest one for me. You're

35:11

part of a niche club. Yeah.

35:13

Basically, it's some school

35:16

mates. Six of us and every couple of months, we have

35:18

to one of us has to think of a really

35:20

weird niche kind of activity

35:24

or event to go and have do and

35:26

have dinner basically. It's it's a good way of

35:28

meeting up and doing some people as a host

35:30

dinner. So Okay. I like it. I

35:32

like it. Rach, what about

35:34

you? Not really anything that's too niche.

35:35

We used to have an

35:38

audiobook club.

35:40

That's niche. I don't think

35:43

most people have an audiobook club. I don't know if

35:45

you know a lot of audiobook club people. Yeah.

35:47

Is that lady yourself? Just give me

35:49

both actually reading the book. That's

35:51

been selective with

35:54

your time, Gudy.

35:55

Oh, I see. See. Yeah. Getting more

35:57

information in. But being my advice

35:59

efficient

35:59

efficient. Yeah. Okay.

36:00

What about you? Niche. What's the most niches rugby

36:02

group you've been in? It's

36:04

a good

36:05

question, Jonathan. Can't think learning, to be

36:07

honest guys. Like, address

36:10

club

36:10

in schools about it? That's fair. Surely, you're in you're

36:12

in the niche rugby group of, like, having your own

36:14

calendar. Wouldn't you? You must have been one of those

36:17

players while you were playing Hookie, weren't

36:20

you? I was in the calendar. I did not I wasn't good enough

36:22

for my own calendar. I was I was

36:24

I was Yeah. Gav.

36:27

Don't get stories. That's another that's another episode,

36:30

surely. Right. Let's move

36:32

on. Thanks for your Yeah. I will say on the niche

36:34

guy. Best one was Bogue and Bingo.

36:37

Everyone's out there is being to and Bingo, please come come into

36:39

the show and give us a question. It's it's

36:41

my best night of having this club.

36:43

Very random. Something else. Okay.

36:45

Alright. Alright. Let's thank Roe

36:47

very much for their message back in the New Year with

36:50

more community club shout outs. Keep

36:52

sending them in the WhatsApp number

36:54

once again. In the episode description. Finally, on the

36:56

podcast, let's talk about the first

36:58

round of the European

37:00

Champions Cup. What stood out for

37:02

you guys? From this

37:04

weekend's matches? And did we get any early

37:06

clues as to how the rest of the competition

37:08

might shape up going into twenty

37:10

twenty three? Two out of the

37:12

three South African teams, one on the opening

37:14

weekend, we saw Linster beat

37:16

Rasgon forty two ten as well as they look

37:18

for their first trophy since twenty

37:20

eighteen. As Alex experienced

37:22

firsthand, the English premiership's top

37:24

two started pretty well as well. Saracens

37:26

against Edinburgh sale thirty nine against Olster who

37:28

had to travel on the day because of

37:30

the bad weather. Maybe that played a part.

37:33

La Rochelle beating Northampton to loose one

37:35

away at at Roman Park. Against

37:37

Monster. We saw that great try for Anthony Watson

37:40

for Lester and, of course, Courtney Laws

37:42

back in a saint shirt. Maybe that was the

37:44

main headlines from

37:46

the weekend. What stood out to you, James? I I think the lens stood in.

37:48

I

37:48

think the lens stood at I

37:50

don't believe at the moment, obviously, I watched a lot of them

37:52

in in the UAE and to

37:54

go to RASIN and put forty points on them. They just saw

37:57

clinical. I I just loved the

37:59

way they they play and, you

38:02

know, the the connections between backs and forwards

38:04

and and just how like I say, just how

38:06

clinical they are. And again, the twenty two, you pretty

38:08

much know more often or not, they're gonna come all of your

38:10

pipes and you know, Ireland are pretty similar well. You know, I watching Ireland

38:12

play at the moment. So yeah. Definitely, that

38:14

led the performance against RASIN and,

38:16

you know, Toulouse beat

38:18

the monster. In month

38:19

sales. It was a big win. You know, months are struggling a little bit

38:21

at the moment. But, yeah, those are probably the

38:23

two games that stood out to me. I

38:25

agree. I think a way

38:27

wins in Europe. So important. And to lose money

38:29

at Monster franchisee away from home, very impressive.

38:32

Obviously, the density you

38:34

mentioned there. Thought

38:36

sale, you know, regardless of the travel for Oster, I

38:38

thought it was very, very good performance from

38:41

them. They haven't played a lot

38:43

in Europe and yet they really

38:45

put a marker down as to how well they can go. So fair play.

38:48

And then probably the

38:50

the comeback

38:52

from Gloucester against Bordeaux

38:54

was very good. So they're they're sort of

38:56

my key takeaways really, and

38:58

and and echo and then still look

39:01

very good. Disappointed racing. It's a shame

39:03

they didn't play at their home ground for one

39:05

and and two. I thought they were quite

39:07

poor, so but impressive

39:09

and then it's Yeah. Why why was that? Why didn't they play the

39:11

whole music? I don't know. I I don't know if it was

39:14

there was a concert on there or if

39:16

it was because they

39:18

wanted to get the

39:20

bigger venue. Yeah. I

39:22

couldn't tell you, but it didn't help them.

39:24

And No. Yeah. The the racing

39:26

team, I I think You see, so many

39:28

French teams are so big and strong, and they see

39:30

L'Oreal so physical and they cause

39:32

notes a lot of problems. I

39:34

thought for a French side, they're sort of back

39:36

five in the scrum of

39:38

of racing were

39:40

perhaps a bit lightweight. And, you know,

39:42

if you're gonna go to the lens to play beat lens

39:44

to saw it at home, then you need to

39:47

be incredibly physical and they they just got smashed physically

39:49

by a lobster. And then after that,

39:51

it was it was just

39:53

too easy. Rich? Yeah.

39:56

Not dissimilar to from the boys, just the dominant

39:58

performance from Lent stuff. It really stood out

40:00

from out of all the games, but probably

40:02

the top three of sale

40:05

and La Rochelle, you know, all free games, Faroe entertaining, but

40:07

also really dominant. So, yeah,

40:10

it's it's kicked off to a good

40:12

start. I I enjoyed

40:14

the the games with

40:16

Harlequin's playing against the sharks. I

40:18

thought that was quite an entertaining

40:20

showcase game. And I think, you

40:22

know, the inclusion of South Africa, you know,

40:24

ten tries in that game. So

40:26

hopefully, we'll see more of that as it as the game

40:28

and and the tournament unfolds.

40:29

Hokey, just on that. African

40:32

teams. What's your feeling of them being in

40:34

the the European cup? It's got a big knock on

40:36

for for world's teams as well there, doesn't it?

40:38

Because DuPont came out and everybody hear him

40:40

say much. And he said how

40:42

he thought it was rubbish

40:44

and don't quote me on that

40:46

exactly, but he didn't he didn't like how

40:48

his African teams basically. He's not

40:50

the European audition, tradition, how amazing. What what's your

40:52

feeling on it? Yeah. III

40:53

saw Dupont's comments as well.

40:54

It does feel a bit strange and

40:58

it and you know, she's it's not a European company. The African teams are in

41:00

there. So, you know, I I think there's a

41:02

the African teams are quality quality

41:04

teams. So, you know, they're probably

41:06

gonna improve the standard of it. So, you know, probably gonna have to look at

41:09

changing the name of it, you know, to to

41:11

something different because, you know, it doesn't

41:13

feel like a European championship

41:15

with them in there. But at the same time,

41:17

you know, they are they are quality teams and and

41:19

quality players involved there as well. What effect do you

41:22

think it has on world's clubs? You know, over the

41:24

next

41:24

five to ten years because,

41:26

yeah, they may raise the standard and obviously,

41:28

you know, we want sport to be pushed

41:30

on and improve

41:33

always evolving equally opportunities

41:35

to play these world's clubs at

41:37

that elite level through qualification

41:39

from the US URC may be limited now.

41:41

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. It's one of the allspreads that

41:43

have qualified for this year's

41:46

competition. So it does make a lot

41:48

a lot more difficult for the wealth teams. And like I say, these

41:50

southbound teams are are very, very good,

41:52

very physical, particularly when you you go

41:54

away from

41:56

home to, you know, play them at altitude as well. It's tough as as,

41:58

you know, you probably know. So,

41:59

yeah, it does make it more difficult, but, you know,

42:02

that's just all about the competition.

42:04

So, yeah, we did actually

42:06

improve in the URC a

42:08

little bit out in South together

42:10

albeit we lost more so gains. But just

42:12

dealing with our physicality, I think we're

42:14

struggling with at the moment, when we

42:16

when we go up there? I just

42:17

wish they would European would be

42:19

would bring back the old pool system. I

42:21

don't know. I just used to

42:23

love that. It's Everyone knows it's easy, simple, everyone

42:26

knows who's in your group, you're playing them home and

42:28

away, and you have those

42:30

great back to back games

42:32

in December. And also, if

42:34

you lose more than one game, you're knocking out

42:36

your group. As opposed to these

42:38

groups now, you can only win one out of

42:40

your four four games and you get

42:42

through. So I think it was a a

42:44

proper test, and I do like the pool

42:46

system of old school. I'd like to see that

42:48

back. I grew with the I grew

42:50

with the Right. I think it has been an absolute pleasure today. I'm

42:52

wishing everyone a very merry

42:54

merry Christmas. That is a wrap for House

42:56

of Rugby twenty twenty

42:58

two. Thank you very much to our

43:00

special guest James Hook, Alex and

43:02

Rachel. Of course, we're gonna go and have

43:04

some mint pies, maybe some mold wine. I don't know. I'm not sure, but

43:06

have a wonderful festive break, and

43:08

we will see you in the New Year. Thanks for listening.

43:10

Cheers guys. Merry Christmas.

43:12

Merry Christmas.

43:14

Filled the animals.