One careless comment can shrink a player for months. One intentional conversation can change a career. That’s the tension at the heart of leadership and it’s exactly where Kieran Read goes with us. From describing himself as a shy kid who didn’t speak up, Kieran walks through how he grew into captaining the All Blacks, and what that journey teaches anyone trying to build a stronger team culture at work or in sport. We get specific about what “culture” actually is: the behaviors you tolerate, the...
Apr 21, 2026•58 min
What really builds culture when results, bodies, and time are under pressure? We sit down with Joe Launchbury—70-cap England lock, longtime Wasps leader, and current Harlequin—to unpack how simple behaviors, sharp communication, and quiet ownership become competitive edges. Joe’s definition of culture is disarmingly clear: do what you said you would do, through good and bad. From coffee cups and punctuality to learning your role, he shows how small standards compound into trust—and how trust bec...
Apr 19, 2026•1 hr 2 min
A team loses a final. The microphone shows up. Most leaders reach for explanations, soft excuses, or someone to blame. We don’t. We play a short, stunning post-game interview from Gav Hickey, who coaches the Naval Academy in the United States, and we slow it down to hear what it reveals about real leadership, coaching culture, and what your players learn from your voice. Gav’s message is all pride and perspective: he talks about the character of his players, the joy of spending time together, an...
Apr 14, 2026•12 min
What makes a team’s culture visible when the pressure is highest? We sit down with Ospreys head coach Mark Jones to unpack the daily habits, leadership handoffs, and language choices that turn values into actions. From Neath’s valley steel to Swansea’s coastal ease, Mark traces how a region’s identity shapes a squad’s edge—and why the first job of a head coach is to confirm the group still believes in the same things you do. Mark takes us inside the warm-up zone where music, micro-chats, and bod...
Apr 12, 2026•1 hr 3 min
If you would like to get on this tour: https://gullivers.com.au/product/wallabiesvspumas-argentina-tour-2026/?utm_source=partnername&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=CoachingCulture_Podcast_8April Culture isn’t a poster on the wall. It’s what your team does when nobody is watching, when someone gets dropped, and when the trip gets uncomfortable. I’m joined by Wallabies legend and former Rugby Australia president Tony Shaw to get practical about what team culture really is, how leadershi...
Apr 07, 2026•1 hr 1 min
What if passion isn’t the finish line but the fuel—and only excellence keeps the engine from overheating? We sit down with Hall of Famer and Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi to unpack a coaching philosophy that’s as rigorous as it is human: high standards matched with high support. From Buenos Aires to the global stage, Felipe explains how the Pumas preserve their Latin fire while adopting the precision and discipline that turn emotion into execution. We trace his journey from captain to co...
Apr 05, 2026•1 hr
The fastest way to change a team’s mood might be sitting right on the gym wall: the speaker. We get into a simple coaching decision that quietly shapes everything that follows training effort, energy, and unity. When anyone can grab the iPad and throw on whatever track they feel like, the room drifts. But when the music matches the purpose of the session, it becomes a cue. Just like calm sound belongs in yoga, high-intensity gym music can help rugby players switch on, lift hard, and move with in...
Apr 01, 2026•12 min
What if online coaching didn’t just deliver drills but built a real sense of belonging? We sit down with Ben John—ex-Ospreys center and the force behind The Rugby Trainer—to explore how a lockdown idea became a global coaching platform that helps players love the craft, master the details, and feel part of something bigger than themselves. Ben shares the simple cornerstone of his method: a ten-minute habit and a skill flywheel. Players work a focused skill alone, try it at team training, then te...
Mar 29, 2026•1 hr 3 min
Watching kids train can tell you everything about a coaching environment in minutes. Are they going through the motions, or are they lit up with purpose? We share a small, practical idea that creates a huge shift in youth rugby coaching: stop leaving parents on the sideline and bring them onto the field as part of the session. After seeing a junior team in Sydney’s inner west learn tackling technique by tackling their own dads, we break down why it worked so well, how it boosted confidence, and ...
Mar 24, 2026•11 min
Winning teams aren’t built on slogans. They’re built on agreed standards lived every day, and Greg Cooper shows how to get there with clarity, compassion, and competitive edge. From record points as a player to head coaching across New Zealand, Japan, France, and the USA, Greg walks us through the culture mechanics that actually move the needle: listening first, understanding the region and its history, then building a leadership layer of “connectors” who represent workers, pros, imports, and yo...
Mar 22, 2026•1 hr 1 min
Pressure doesn’t have to create panic. Sometimes it can create your best performance, if you coach the week the right way. Today we reflect on two powerful lessons from Sam Vesty, head coach of Northampton Saints, shared in our new release How to Be a Great Coach: Lessons from the World’s Best Coaches, Volume 2. If you lead a team, coach athletes, or manage people in high-stakes moments, these ideas translate fast. First, we unpack “joy and clarity” as a finals-week strategy. Sam’s goal is freed...
Mar 18, 2026•12 min
Purpose isn’t a slogan at Navy Rugby; it’s the engine. We sit down with head coach Gavin Hickey to trace his journey from Ireland and Leicester to Annapolis, where a career-ending injury became the start of purpose-driven coaching. Gavin opens the doors to a culture that welcomes spouses and kids, treats athletes like “another set of our children,” and uses rugby to develop decision-making under pressure—the very skill midshipmen will rely on in the fleet. Across this conversation, we unpack how...
Mar 15, 2026•1 hr 1 min
Pressure makes culture visible. With Matt O’Connor, we go inside elite rugby environments to show how trust, standards, and brutally honest conversations turn potential into performance. Matt’s coached at Kubota, the Brumbies, Leicester Tigers, Leinster, and the Queensland Reds, and he draws a sharp line between glossy values and the gritty, day-to-day actions that actually win games. We talk about social capital as the foundation for candor: when motives are team first and ego stays out, player...
Mar 08, 2026•1 hr
A quiet architect just left the building—and the story behind his work is a masterclass in leadership. We take a clear-eyed look at Chris Lendrum’s two decades inside New Zealand Rugby, showing how a behind-the-scenes operator shaped player pathways, stabilized competitions, and helped elevate the Black Ferns with a strategy equal parts rigor and heart. This is a journey through culture you can feel the moment you walk in, and performance that holds an edge without losing its humanity. We share ...
Mar 03, 2026•13 min
What does it take for a national team with little budget and less infrastructure to climb from 71st to 40th in the world? We sit down with Stu Woodhouse to unpack a decade leading the Philippines—where family, identity, and bravery weren’t slogans but the spine of performance. This is a story of players scattered across the globe, many who never felt “Filipino enough,” finding home in a jersey and purpose in each other. It began with connection before correction: rookies and veterans sharing har...
Mar 01, 2026•1 hr 9 min
Add to the research here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEaFJl2Iks5RDGq93lTXyOv3RS5SoNJsibRPVWytiQgSWarg/viewform?pli=1 What if the biggest performance edge your team is missing is the well-being of the person leading it? We sit down with Stuart Edwards—defense coach for Finland and former police officer—who’s conducting one of the first deep academic dives into stress, burnout, and support systems for rugby coaches. From community volunteers to pro environments, the patterns are str...
Feb 25, 2026•57 min
What do you do when the scoreboard won’t budge? We sit down with Cambridge head coach Craig Newby for an unfiltered look at leadership, culture, and performance in the middle of a 14-game winless run—and why this stretch might be the most rewarding of his career. Craig breaks down the simple, sturdy framework that keeps his team aligned: “Fit, Tight, Fight” as non-negotiable standards, and three big rocks—set piece, transition, and collisions—that shape every meeting, practice plan, and review. ...
Feb 22, 2026•1 hr 10 min
What if the fastest way to a stronger culture isn’t a better speech but a better session plan? We take a hard look at Gordon Tietjens’ legendary methods with the All Blacks Sevens and unpack why brutal fitness, unbendable standards, and purpose‑driven training turned talent into titles—and teammates into family. We start with the heart of Tietjens’ philosophy: the harder you work together, the closer you become. In sevens, effort is public and undeniable—everyone sees the chase, the clean, the r...
Feb 18, 2026•11 min
What if the hardest session you’ve ever done became the moment your team truly bonded? We sit down with Sir Gordon Tietjens, the architect of All Blacks Sevens dominance, to unpack a culture built on honesty, humility, discipline, and relentless work—and why those values still win when talent alone can’t. Tietjens takes us inside his selection philosophy, revealing why character outruns hype in a sport decided by inches. He breaks down his traffic‑light model—greens who self‑drive, yellows who d...
Feb 15, 2026•1 hr 2 min
Pressure isn’t a detour in coaching—it’s the road itself. We open up about the weight leaders carry, from constant decision-making to public scrutiny, and why stress doesn’t signal failure but commitment. Instead of wishing problems away, we talk about building the muscle to walk through them, drawing on research-backed ideas about process-focused mindset shifts that shorten the emotional downtime after hard calls and tough losses. From there, we get practical. We lay out how to build a clean on...
Feb 11, 2026•14 min
Ever feel like your work is judged on the tiniest slice of time while everything that matters happens in the shadows? We sit down with Sharks coach and leadership consultant Joey Mongalo to unpack how identity, conviction, and a clear model help leaders thrive under pressure—on the field and in the boardroom. We start with the uncomfortable truth: people judge coaches on 80 minutes. Joey explains how he anchors himself by revisiting his track record to counter noise with facts, then shows why th...
Feb 08, 2026•1 hr 19 min
A surgeon’s simple habit changed the way we coach. We dig into how the first and last moments of any experience anchor the emotion, memory, and meaning people carry forward—and how that insight can turn ordinary sessions into powerful learning events. Starting from an unexpected colonoscopy analogy, we translate a soft start and a calm finish into practical tools for rugby and any team environment. We walk through three levels of application. At the season level, we show how a strong opening mee...
Feb 04, 2026•13 min
A late-night training, a tired team, and a coach who missed the real story—that’s where everything changed. Andre Petorius shares how a single moment of misread effort led him to apologize, “break the chain” of how he was coached, and build a people-first approach anchored in three words: understand and assist. We dive into a definition you’ll remember long after the episode ends: culture as your team’s immune system. Andre shows how small daily behaviors—inviting young players into extras, how ...
Feb 01, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Pressure without panic. That was the standout energy we brought home from the Brisbane youth rugby coaches forum, where we watched Mike Cron turn complex coaching into something calm, sharp, and deeply human. We open up our notes on how sky-high standards can thrive without fear, why fewer cues and more silence often produce better reps, and how the right tech can transform players into self-directed learners. We talk through Cron’s approach to culture: make the standard crystal clear, keep the ...
Jan 28, 2026•11 min
What if performance starts with belonging, not tactics? We sit down with Nick Evans—All Black fly-half turned Harlequins attack coach—to unpack how culture, clarity, and a few well-chosen words can change the way a team competes under pressure. From honoring ancestry to owning identity, Nick shows why connection is the foundation that makes hard conversations possible and results sustainable. We trace his journey from player to coach, including the painful lesson of a 28-slide attack deck that p...
Jan 25, 2026•1 hr 6 min
https://www.coachingculture.com.au/Bens_Culture_Playbook Download Ever notice two teams run the same drills with the same energy, yet one takes off while the other stalls? We dig into the invisible factor that decides that split: culture. Not the poster on the wall or the pregame speech, but the lived behaviors you tolerate, the way mistakes are handled, whose voice carries, and what gets ignored. Drawing on years of coaching across countries and age groups, we share a practical Culture Playbook...
Jan 21, 2026•12 min
Want to know why the “hot coach” from a powerhouse program often struggles at your club? We sit down with Ben Darwin of Gain Line Analytics to unpack the data behind coach hiring, culture, and the compounding power of cohesion. The conversation challenges easy narratives and asks harder questions about why stability, system fit, and patience routinely beat short-term fixes. We break down a striking contrast from the NRL: assistants leaving the dominant Melbourne Storm win far less elsewhere than...
Jan 18, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Download Bens free Culture Playbook here: https://www.coachingculture.com.au/Bens_Culture_Playbook A 20-year anniversary felt like the right moment to unpack how love, family, and coaching actually work together in real life. I share five lessons that kept our marriage strong and made me a better pro rugby coach: trusting instinct, choosing adventure together, building a home that tells the truth kindly, parenting with intent, and staying fit to protect connection and clarity. It’s the honest ve...
Jan 14, 2026•13 min
What if the most important part of coaching isn’t the playbook, but the five-minute chat before training? We sit down with Zane Hilton, assistant coach of the Queensland Reds, to unpack a career built on process, simplicity, and relentless human connection—despite never having played professionally. Zane’s story spans Italy, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, and Australia, revealing how culture becomes real only when it shows up in behavior under pressure. We dig into his coaching methodology—train well, und...
Jan 11, 2026•1 hr 7 min
A dusty bookshelf turned into a wake-up call. While sorting old favorites, we found a box of Tuesdays with Morrie—and that rediscovery became a fresh look at how culture, love, and emotion shape the way we coach and lead. What starts as a short memoir about weekly visits to a dying professor unfolds into a clear-eyed syllabus for living with purpose when the world keeps pushing speed, status, and more. We walk through the story’s simple structure—Tuesdays as classes—and pull out the lessons that...
Jan 06, 2026•13 min
