#165 - 6 Nations Match Previews - Week 1
Amateur Rugby Podcast
With the 2025 Six Nations fast approaching, I spoke with some incredible rugby folk to analyse the upcoming games in Round 1 of the 2025 6 Nations. For France vs Wales - Rugby YouTuber - Rugby Merlin For Scotland vs Italy - former player for Cumbernauld RFC - Chris Burns For Ireland vs England - Former Harlequins and Connacht player - Dave Slemen Enjoy the games! LINKS Rugby Merlin - David Slemen - Chris Burns - GET STASH England Rugby Store - British & Irish Lions Store - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee helps me make more and better episodes. PATREON Join The Amateur Rugby...
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#164 - The BIG 6 Nations Preview
Amateur Rugby Podcast
With the 2025 Six Nations fast approaching, I spoke with some incredible rugby-folk to get the inside line on each of the Nations. For Wales - Former Dragons Head Coach - Dai Flanagan For England - Former England 7’s Captain - Mike Friday For France - Huge French Rugby fan - Jerome Moisan For Italy - Fratelli D’Rugby Podcaster - Mike Petretta For Ireland - Former London Irish Academy Manager - Patrick O’Grady Sadly, we didn’t manage to get a Scot on board - listen to the end to find out why… GET STASH England Rugby Store - British & Irish Lions Store - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee...
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CLASSIC - Social Media ‘Superstar’ - #3 - Martin Davey
Amateur Rugby Podcast
Martin and I were teammates for many years at Old Colfeians RFC and spent three more seasons running the team as DoR/1stXV Manager. We are also former work-mates in the London Fire Brigade. Our rugby history goes back a long way! LINKS Old Colfeians announce Tim Tunnicliff as DoR – Croatia rugby kit – Al Knuckey kick which led to social media shaming – #rugby #amateurrugby #grassrootsrugby GET STASH England Rugby Store - British & Irish Lions Store - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee helps me make more and better episodes. PATREON Join The Amateur Rugby Podcast Patreon community...
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CLASSIC - It didn’t matter whether we won or lost! - #2 - Matt Townsend
Amateur Rugby Podcast
'Towner' and I have played a lot of rugby over the years across many different teams - Cheltenham Civil Service, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Colts, Combined London Old Boys and of course Old Colfeians. We had a good dig through our rugby history and enjoyed reminiscing about the social side of the game. LINKS Towner kindly offered to provide some assistance and advice to anyone aspiring to a career in a 'big 4' accountancy firm. Contact me on and I will pass on your details. GET STASH England Rugby Store - British & Irish Lions Store - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee helps me...
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CLASSIC - Fighting before the game! - #1 - Chris Tunnicliff
Amateur Rugby Podcast
He ain't heavy... From tackling practice in the back garden to playing together for Cheltenham RFC and Gloucestershire Schools to recently coaching minis rugby at Ellingham and Ringwood RFC, it's been a long rugby-filled ride with my only sibling. LINKS Chris has kindly managed to offer a membership discount for any new mini or junior players that want to try rugby at Ellingham and Ringwood RFC. Just email to find out more details. The Coaching Matrix Chris mentioned can be found on the Hampshire RFU website. () Lastly, Chris can be contacted via on Twitter GET STASH...
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#163 - Andy Burfoot - Reimagining a rugby clubhouse
Amateur Rugby Podcast
My guest this week is current Minchinhampton RFC player Andy Burfoot. Andy is still playing at 48 years of age and has had the privilege of playing alongside both of his sons. We chatted about all the great things going on at Minch, including the rapid growth of the Women’s section, their remarkable and truly unique clubhouse and the influence of their famous royal member. This is an awesome episode - I hope you enjoy. LINKS Minchinhampton RFC - Minchinhampton RFC referee’s changing room - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee helps me make more and better episodes. PATREON Join The Amateur Rugby...
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#162 - David Pattimore - Coaching structure to a township team
Amateur Rugby Podcast
My guest this week is a rugby coach of many teams and England Police RUFC front-rower - Dave Pattimore. We talked about being a front-row forward, the joy and challenges of playing for England Police, and the differences between coaching kids in the afternoon and experienced adults in the evening. And we finished by chatting through the England Police tour of South Africa and the rich experiences that Dave had coaching in the townships. This is a fun, interesting and sometimes deep conversation - I hope you enjoy. LINKS Mosborough RUFC - England Police RUFC - BUY ME A COFFEE Coffee...
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#161 - Nick Welsh - Game for Game
Amateur Rugby Podcast
My guest this week is Strathmore RFC part-time business consultant - Nicol Welsh We talked about Nick’s playing career, the challenges around running the Scottish National Prison Service team with no training time, some brilliant stories from Vets tours, generating a player pathway from minis and juniors to the First XV and loads of incredible insight about how to become a true Community Club, not just a club in the community. We talked about several mutually beneficial partnerships that resulted in the players eating steak and lobster post-training! This is a great episode with a ton of...
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#160 - Keith Lewis - You both might be right
Amateur Rugby Podcast
My guest this week is Laws Co-ordinator at World Rugby and Founder of , Keith Lewis. We talked about the days when we shared a pitch back in the early 2000’s when I played at Old Colfeians, how Keith got into refereeing and his early influences at Preston Grasshoppers. We then discussed how referees are assessed and coached, how positioning is vital and the differences when moving up the leagues as a referee. Keith shared his challenges when progressing through the ranks including a shocking moment in a huge Championship game between London Welsh and Exeter. We discussed Keith’s role at...
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#159 - Matt Groves - Does it have any material effect?
Amateur Rugby Podcast
My guest this week is Leicestershire Society referee, Matt Groves. We talked about Matt’s journey to becoming a rugby referee, the opportunities and challenges that it provides and some of the common myths and misconceptions around volunteer referees in the community game. There are plenty of tips for aspiring referees and useful information for players and coaches too. I’m hugely passionate about supporting referees, building a greater understanding of rugby law throughout the game and enjoying the nuances of the rugby law book - I hope you enjoy. LINKS Matt Groves - Whistleblowers...
info_outlineMy guest this week is USA 7’s Head Coach - Mike Friday.
This interview was recorded in April of 2024 and we talked about the development of young, elite players in England. We talk about how the demands have changed over the years, the pros and cons of different pathway systems, and why English players don’t seem to get enough game-time.
Mike has a huge amount of experience of coaching young elite players, including his two sons Harrison and Lucas.
This is a fascinating episode - I hope you enjoy.
LINKS
Mike Friday on Twitter @MikeFriday09
Mike Friday - Episode #8 on The Amateur Rugby Podcast - https://www.amateurrugbypodcast.com/8-mike-friday/
Sporting Excellence Group - https://sportingexcellencegroup.com/
Sport Ed Ex - https://www.sportedex.com/rugby/
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