Goldy’s Rugby podcasts

Heyneke Meyer

Heyneke’s vision and goal was to become head coach of South Africa. After studying at the University of Pretoria, Heyneke started his journey as a teacher and schools rugby coach.  His first professional coaching break was with SWD Eagles, in the Western Cape, where Heyneke quickly progressed to Head Coach.

1999 was a breakthrough year, as Heyneke became forwards coach at The Stormers in Cape Town, before being offered an incredible opportunity as South Africa’s forward coach for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, then finishing third. Heyneke continued coaching them for the next 3 years, whilst also starting his coaching association with The Bulls in Pretoria, where Heyneke progressed from assistant coach to Head Coach.

During his 8 year career at the Bulls, Heyneke’s teams made nine finals, winning the Vodacom Cup, the Currie Cup four times, and the prestigious Super Rugby title in 2007. Heyneke became head coach of Leicester Tigers for a season before finally reaching his schoolboy goal in 2012, becoming South Africa’s head coach. Heyneke’s reign as head coach of South Africa resulted in some memorable matches against Australia and New Zealand; notable home series wins over England and Wales; two end-of-year tour clean sweeps; two-time runner up of the Rugby Championship and finishing 3rd at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, narrowly losing by 2 points in the semi-final to eventual winners, New Zealand. In 2018, Heyneke coached Stade Francais for a year and now works to inspire and mentor coaches and people to realise their own potential.

Topics include:

"fighting one more round"

Heyneke’s approach to life and his seven universal principles of leadership.

Family background & coaching journey; his aims, ambitions & dreams; family support; coaching philosophy; the importance of making mistakes and building relationships; authenticity as a coach; advice for young players and coaches; adapting and improving; views on South Africa rugby; and future goals.

Peter Breen

Peter is a former professional rugby union player turned ambitious coach. He played for the New Zealand based Super Rugby team, The Highlanders, as well as NZ provincial side, Northland. Peter has always had a deep passion for coaching and an eye for detail. In 2017 Peter started up Rugby Bricks, an online platform with resources that help rugby players and coaches thrive by delivering world class knowledge and training through Rugby Bricks social media channels and dedicated skills programs. In 2018 Peter also became assistant coach for the Australian women's national rugby union team, the Wallaroos.

 

Topics covered:

Peter's background & career so far; his coaching philosophy; coaching influences; how he has overcome personal challenges; the development of Rugby Bricks; getting balance and an explanation of his values; how his values relate to learning and his coaching methods; an life-changing experience with Scott Robertson; advice to young rugby players; opinion around player pathways; & opinion on Laws of the game.

Laurie Fisher

Laurie Fisher is one of world rugbys most respected coaches, having worked at the top of the game for over two decades.

Laurie’s career starts as a school teacher progressing to academy coach, Australian U21 coach, Australian Universities head coach, coaching the Canberra Vikings, Munster forwards coach, Gloucester head coach, and he is now in his third spell at the Brumbies Super Rugby team previously as head coach and more recently as forwards coach.

Laurie was awarded ACT Rugby Coach of the Year in 1999 and was forwards coach of the Brumbies in their Super Rugby title side in 2004. During Laurie's time at Irish Provence, Munster, the team won the Celtic Magners League title, contested two Heineken Cup and one Magners League semi finals. In 2020 Laurie was was part of the Brumbies coaching team that won Super Rugby AU. Laurie is hugely respected around the world and known for his innovation, leadership and expert coaching.

Topics covered:

Family background & personal journey; his teaching career & lessons learned; family support; influences & inspiration; coaching belief; careers challenges; life philosophy & values; coach authenticity; big learning moments; coaching philosophy; advice for young players; adapting and moulding to new environments & cultures; importance of improvement & reflection; contact area philosophy & tactical application in training sessions; utilising coaches and feedback; view on rugby laws; Australia rugby player pathway; and his future goals.

 

Aaron Walsh

Aaron Walsh is an experienced Performance Coach with an expertise in mental skills, player development and building a performance environment. He currently works with the Gallagher Chiefs Super Rugby team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, as well as NZ Hockey, NZ football and the Auckland Aces. Having also spent many years in the USA working with players from the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and NY Mets in MLB, Aaron has gained massive experience around leadership and helping to create and maintain High Performance working environments. More recently Aaron has helped develop and drive a new mental skills curriculum with some of the leading schools in the U.K.

Topics covered: Aaron's background & coaching journey so far; his philosophy; a mental skills framework; mind gyms; developing confidence; navigating through pressure & good failure; building resilience; fundamental beliefs about a leader & coach; the development of his mental skills curriculum for schools.

George Skivington

George attended Wimbledon College until sixteen years of age, moving to The John Fisher School, Purley, for his Sixth Form. He represented Surrey county and regional squads at second row before being asked to join the England U18 tour of New Zealand.

George was part of the Saracens academy, but moved to Wasps RFC post school where he spent seven very successful years, winning both the Premiership and European Cup. During this time period George represented and Captained England Saxons. Following Wasps, George moved clubs to Leicester Tigers RFC for two seasons, before finishing his playing career at London Irish RFC.

During the end of George’s playing career he was assistant coach at Ealing Trailfinders RFC, as well as being part of the Samoa national coaching set-up, before transitioning to full-time as forwards coach at London Irish RFC for four seasons. In June 2020 George took on his latest coaching position at Gloucester RFC as head coach.

 

Topics covered: Where are Gloucester now?; his playing career and coaching journey so far: overcoming challenges, believing in himself, and the importance of good character; his vision and ambition for Gloucester; the role of an academy; favourite youth rugby memory!

Brendan Venter

Born in South Africa, Brendan Venter, is a practicing general practitioner and world renowned rugby union coach. A former world cup winner with South Africa in 1995, Brendan played 17 times for his country before joining London Irish RFC in 2001 as player/coach, winning the Powergen Cup in 2002. In 2009 Brendan was asked to join Saracens as Director of Rugby and has been widely credited with setting the blueprint, which has facilitated Saracens success. In 2013 Brendan became Director of Rugby at the Sharks in Durban, before returning to London Irish in 2016 as Technical Director. In 2017 he became defence coach of the Italian national rugby team whilst  also taking on a coaching role with the South African national rugby team. More recently Brendan has helped support the Stormers coaching team with their exit strategies and continues his long lasting relationship and support with Saracens.

Topics covered: Brendan's background, life story, his life philosophy; influences; balanced in life; developing character; set backs & over coming adversity and learning opportunities; the ‘Brendan Venter way’; advice to young players; the Saracens rugby journey #makingmemories #hardwork #discipline #humility #honesty; being a leader and building a successful #team #culture #values #vision; good relationships & good people; advice for coaches; coaching innovation South African rugby pathway; laws of the game; Saracens future; and personal future goals.

Brian Ashton

Brian's playing career included rugby clubs such as Fylde, Orrell as well as European clubs Montferrand and Rome. He was part of the England squad that toured Australia in 1975 before becoming a teacher and rugby master at Stoneyhurst School. Brian coached England A on the tour 1985 tour of New Zealand and in 1989 became the backs coach job at Bath Rugby Club helping establish Bath Rugby Club as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade, taking over as head coach in 1994. Brian had a spell as National Coach of Ireland from 1997 to 1998. Brian was Sir Clive Woodward’s assistant with the England rugby team between 1998 to 2002, before becoming the RFU's National Academy Manager between 2002 to 2005 launching England Rugby's National Academy system. Brian was appointed England Rugby head coach in 2006 and led the side to the 2007 Rugby World Final and was appointed an (MBE) in the 2008 New Years Honours. Following England, Brian was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and in 2010 he returned to his old club Fylde as a coaching consultant to the senior squad , where the club won National League 2 North in 2010/2011 season. In more recent years Brian has worked as a mentor to many professional and aspiring coaches across many sports, as well as a consultant coach delivering coaching sessions and working with national governing bodies and the world renowned IRANZ coaching organisation in New Zealand.

 

Topics covered: Brian’s background & influences; the effect of others on his coaching; the importance of communication, having a purpose, having a dream, relationships & emotional engagement; the development of his coaching philosophy, environment, innovation; being adaptable and overcoming challenges; situational coaching, courage & self belief; coach development, coach education, IRANZ; player development & being a mentor; his coaching career: EnglandRugby, IrelandRugby, Bath Rugby, Fylde Rugby, Kings School, Bruton, the 2007 RWC; opinion on laws of the game; player pathway; and honest lessons learned with lots of reflection on how to be your authentic self.

Gary Gold

Gary is the current USA men’s XVs head coach. Starting his professional coaching career as forwards coach of London Irish in 2001, under newly appointed Brendan Venter, Gary became head coach in 2003. In 2004 Gary became head coach of Western Province before becoming Springbok assistant coach in 2008, which included helping the Springboks defeat all of the Tier 1 nations at least once; including three victories against the All Blacks during the 2009 Tri Nations Series and assisting the side during the British and Irish Lions tour of 2009, which saw the Boks secure a 2–1 series victory later in the year taking the side to Number 1 in the world. In January 2012, Gary took over at Newcastle Falcons before starting as head coach of Bath. In 2013 Gary was elevated to Director of Rugby, but then departed Bath despite a strong start to the season. In 2014 Gary was named head coach of South African Super Rugby side the Sharks just three weeks before the Sharks' opening game of the 2015 season and left in 2016 to take over as the Director of Rugby of Worcester Warriors in late January 2017 helping the side stay afloat in the Premiership that season.  Gary started the 2017–18 season and was granted an early release from Worcester Warriors so he could commit earlier to his new appointment as Head Coach of USA Rugby. The Eagles became the first team to win all five matches in the Championship and retained the Championship. Gary also became the first head coach of the Americas to lead the Eagles to a win all their games during a June test window and won the Americas Championship Cup in consecutive years in 2018.

A very detailed honest open interview and with lots of reflection.

Topics discussed: A detailed focus on Gary’s background and coaching history; his influences; lessons learned; what is coaching?; understanding the environment and group dynamics; his view on developing character; discussing the development of culture and environment within his teams; his adapting and ever changing philosophy and values due to overcoming career challenges adversity; where USA Rugby is right now and the future; rugby pathway and leagues in the USA; opinion on the laws of the game; and future goals.

Russell Earnshaw

Russell is a former professional rugby player having played at West Hartlepool, Bath Rugby, Rotherham, Worcester & Doncaster. Before turning professional Russell won two Varsity matches whilst studying at Cambridge University, and also represented the Barbarians. Russell was selected for the 1998 Commonwealth Games England 7s squad in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the 2001 England 7s squad for the World Series. Whilst at Doncaster, Russell helped coach the team, but then joined the Pertemps Bees for the 2007/2008 season as player/forwards coach. Russell then became head coach of Birmingham and Solihull and assistant coach of the England 7's team between 2007-2013, winning several tournaments on the World 7s Series, including back-to-back Dubai 7s titles in 2011 & 2012, the 2009 London 7s, and a silver medal at the 2013 Rugby 7s World Cup. Russell coached the GB Students 7s side to a World University Championship in 2012 before joining Eastbourne College, as an Economics teacher between 2013-2015. In 2015 Russell rejoined the RFU as one of England Rugby’s U18 coaches alongside John Fletcher and Peter Walton. Russell is a Level 4 RFU coach, Coach Developer, Coach Educator and Level 4 mentor. After a hugely successful three years as an England Rugby age grade pathway coach Russell co-founded the sport coach development company, Magic Academy, with John Fletcher.

Topics discussed: background & influences; values and beliefs; career path and proud moments in career so far; the importance of connections and relationships; helping players/coaches overcome challenges; how he helped developed the team and character whilst England Rugby U18 coach; the importance of being adaptable as a player; advice to young players to being adaptable and be better players; rugby future and importance in player development; learning curves he has had in his career; how he prioritises and be so creative; opinion on the current England Rugby pathway system; view on Laws of the game; and future goals.

Sir Gordon Tietjens

Sir Gordon Tietjen’s is widely regarded as the greatest rugby sevens coach of all time. A World Rugby Hall of Famer, Sir Gordon is the most highly decorated coach in the history of rugby sevens. During his twenty-two year tenure as head coach of New Zealand rugby sevens and four years as Samoa rugby sevens head coach, Sir Gordon’s teams won: twelve World Series Gold’s, four Commonwealth Games Gold’s and two World Cup Gold’s. Sir Gordon was duly knighted by the Queen of England in 2013 for his services to rugby sevens. During his time in charge of the New Zealand rugby sevens team forty-four players went on to become fully fledged All Blacks in the fifteen-a-side game and he was the only remaining active international coach from the amateur era.

Topics discussed: Sir Gordon’s background and influences; challenges he faced both on and off the field; discussing the development and importance of culture and environment within his teams; Gordon’s philosophy, beliefs and values to playing & coaching rugby sevens; squad selection criteria and qualities his players would have; the importance and qualities of captain selection; favourite victory and proud moments; being authentic as a coach; the importance of rugby sevens in player development pathways; views on the laws of the game; and future goals.

Andy Friend

Andy is the current head coach at Irish Province, Connacht. His coaching career began in 1995 at the Australian Institute before Andy took up assistant coaching positions at Super Rugby teams, New South Wales Waratahs, and the Canberra-based Brumbies as skills coach under Eddie Jones. Andy worked within the Wallabies setup during the 2002 Tri Nations and the 2003 Rugby World Cup and led Australia’s U21 to a World Cup Final in 2005. Andy then joined English Premiership team Harlequins as head coach for three seasons before moving back to the Brumbies as head coach. After two seasons in charge, Andy moved to Japan as head coach of Canon Eagles and head coach of Suntory Sungoliath. In 2016 Andy was appointed head coach of the Australian Mens Sevens team taking them to the Rio Olympics and winning the 2018 Sydney 7s finishing 4th in two of the three seasons in charge. In 2018 Andy was appointed head coach of Pro 14 side Connacht.

Topics discussed: Andy's background and influences; vision and philosophy; viewing failure as an opportunity; how he has overcome challenges; character development; building relationships and culture within a team environment; advice to young players and coaches.

Paul Turner

Paul has been the Head Coach of Ampthill Rugby since 2011 taking them into the Championship, He is a Level 4 Coach and coached for 30 Years at all levels of the game. A former Welsh International player, Paul was player/coach between 1991-1998 at Newport RFC, Sale & Bedford. Once retired Paul worked in roles as assistant coach / skills at Saracens, Gloucester, Harlequins and Wasps becoming Head Coach of Newport Gwent Dragons in Magners Pro 14 for five seasons as was Pro 14 Coach of the Year in 2010. Paul has a huge wealth of experience and a unique view point on the game from all levels.

Topics covered: background and influences; coaching philosophy; over coming challenges both as a player and a coach; how those experiences developed Paul's character and the players; favourite coaching moments; advice to young players; opinion on academies; Paul's future goals.

Sean Holley

Sean played his rugby at Maesteg, Aberavon, Rugby Lions, Loughborough University & Univ. of New South Wales becoming the first Director of Rugby at  Hartpury College, and head coach at the Gloucester RFC Academy before joining the Ospreys at their formation back in 2003. Sean became head coach the Ospreys in 2008 winning 5 major trophies in his 9 years. Sean was Wales assistant coach for 2009 summer tour and worked with Scarlets in 2013 before joining Bristol Rugby ahead of the 2013–14 season. Under Sean’s leadership Bristol joined the premiership in the 2015/16 season. More recently Sean has worked as a pundit and analyst with BBC Wales, Scrum V and hosts the Rugby Nation radio show. Sean now works regularly not only for the BBC and Nation, BT Sport, Talksport and now works with Premier Sports and for the Guinness Pro 14. He even has his own podcast the “Tuesday Club”, which he hosts with actor Kyle Rees. Sean now has 3 businesses alongside, 2 charity ambassador roles and his Sport & Media work which sees him host events with major celebrities and work as a freelance broadcaster. 

Topics discussed: Sean's background, influences and core values; experiences, advice and real examples of how to over come challenges & adversity; how to be a leader?; transferable principles/skills from rugby; views on the Welsh player pathway and laws of the game; and his future goals.

Paul Gustard

Paul is Head of Rugby at Harlequins. Having played for Leicester Tigers, London Irish, Saracens & England squads, Paul’s first coaching role was with Saracens becoming assistant 1st team coach moving to be in charge of the defence and forwards in 2008. In 2016 Paul became England defence coach under the Eddie Jones and in May 2018 Paul took the reign's as Head of Rugby at Harlequins.

Topics: Paul's background & influences; his own coach development; the importance of family; his values & beliefs. The birth of Saracens: culture, team bonding, leadership; and the use of story telling in his coaching; how Paul has overcome adversity and challenges; Paul's opinion of the laws of the game and opportunities we have to make the game better; his future and the progress of Harlequins; & advice to aspiring young players.

John Fletcher

John is one of most successful rugby coaches in the world with an incredible reputation for open mindedness, creative thinking & supportive coaching nature. Whist working at Newcastle Falcons John transitioned from Academy Manager to Director of Rugby before taking up a role with England Rugby as U18s Head Coach for over a decade bringing through many of the household names we now know and love. John is also co-founder of the Magic Academy supporting coach and people development.

Topics: background & influences; his philosophy; the importance of developing creativity; advice on how to be creative and challenging players; challenges John has overcome and learned from in his career & advice for coaches; the future of rugby union; view on the England age grade pathway; and personal ambitions & goals.

Sean Erasmus

Sean is one of most successful exciting young rugby coaches not just in South Africa, but in the world.

Sean is currently the defence coach for this seasons Emirates Lions Super Rugby franchise, South Africa, and part of the successful Lions coaching team that were runners up in last seasons Currie Cup.

Having coached for over a decade as 1st XV Head Coach at Glenwood High School, Durban, as well as at the Sharks Academy, Sean made the moved south to Paarl Boys’ High School in 2014. Of Erasmus’ seasons in charge at Paarl Boys’ High, 2015, 2016 and 2017 were outstanding ones in which his teams not only topped the national rankings, but remained unbeaten only losing to Christchurch Boys’ NZ, along the way creating many Junior Boks and Sean himself becoming Head Coach of SA schools coach before a moving into the professional coaching ranks with the Lions up in Johannesburg two years ago.

Topics: background & influences; his philosophy, beliefs & values; how he develops character & resilience in players; how he overcome adversity; explore what he learned in his time at Glenwood High, Paarl Boys' High & SA 18s; his opinion on SA youth pathway; Laws of the game; future goals.

Ben Ryan

Ben is one of most successful men’s rugby coaches in the world having coached England 7s and most notably coaching Fiji 7s to Gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Topics covered: Ben's background & influences; overcoming career challenges & being adaptable; achieving Olympic Gold; his vision & values; rugby 7s pathway; laws of the game and future career goals.

Mike Friday

Our sixth podcast of the series is with Mike Friday.

Mike has been USA 7s Head Coach for the past 5 years, having captained & coached England 7s as well as Kenya 7s as well as experience coaching Premiership, Championship and National League.

Topics discussed: his rugby journey & influences; the importance of adaptability & resilience; values, vision & leadership; opportunities for the future of rugby.