The mic is hot and the game is on. You're listening to News for the Nation podcast by Aces Nation, where we talk about nutrition, sports performance, the journey of a student athlete, and more. I'm Claire. I'm Zach. Time to level up. Welcome back sports fans. Today we're starting part one of a review of a documentary that we're watching. We wanted to keep it in the sports realm. We're watching Six Nations Full Contact. OK, it's about
rugby. If you don't know what Six Nations rugby is, it's probably the biggest in the world, I would say. So you should definitely look it up. I have in the past year become way more of a rugby fan than I thought I would. And any time it's on early in the morning on the weekends when it's in season or. Any like world matchups are happening. I'm trying to watch it So I've seen some pretty incredible games so far Claire you like rugby I don't think I ever watched a
rugby match. I will say I am more privy to some rugby players just because This is a little embarrassing to admit because of my time watching Love Island. There are a lot of rugby players on the line. But yeah, no, I'm not super big into it. However, just watching a little bit of this documentary, I I'm very interested in watching it more, although it is hard for me to watch because I'm like, dang, that looks like it hurts the whole time. Yeah, I know these hits are incredible. Hard.
Yeah. No pads. Guys are just laying into each other. It's it's crazy to watch and just to know even for me playing football, those guys are doing that without pads on. Yeah. So to see some of the injuries that they have or just some of the bleeding and facial fractures, it makes sense. Yeah. Like, I think when you think about the
sports that are common. in america that we watch it i feel like it's a combination of a lot of them like football soccer maybe even like wrestling or some sort of like mixed martial arts just because there's no padding or anything so there's a lot of like physicality and aggressiveness just bare bare bones Yeah, I think that's a good point. Like I was going to bring that up to of like all the similarities that happen within it. You know, the contact is probably the closest
related to football. I think because of the origin, you know, of what we know as football today and rugby being so closely tied on the family tree, if you will. Soccer, yes, probably like the energy system and how the game flows. Right. It's a continuous match. And you mentioned wrestling. And yeah, I agree. Have you seen those guys with cauliflower here? I mean, it's like, hey, there it is. Yeah. You don't need to be on the mat to get it right now or even like after after
a play or whatever. They're like pinning each other down. You know, there's there's a lot of similarities, which is. Crazy to think it's just
one sport and you've got all that going on. Yeah, I know I know so Alright, so just so everyone knows Claire and I have decided not to share notes beforehand so that we're having a natural conversation here about it so first episode Well, okay, so we only we're only covering the first two episodes right now It's an eight part eight episode series So we're gonna do four of these and kind of let them build on top of each other here So the first the first two what I noticed
just overview of both of them was the first episode was about The main players who it was like their
best players, right? They were smaller guys and the second episode was about two bigger guys going at me So that's the first thing I noticed was they highlighted different people or different types of players in these two episodes one being like the more flashy or like marquee type of players and the second one being like the the biggest bruisers that could you know face each other and and really kind of emphasizing the physical contact of the sport Mm -hmm. I noticed
the same thing. Yeah, I thought it was interesting and I kind of liked that I mean obviously they focused on them as people their relationships with the team with the coaches But I I like that they also spent a decent amount of time focusing on like what their specific role was Position -wide and as a player and what the purpose of their position was And went through the matches or the games that they were playing and kind of talked about That role what they were doing
well and what to look for I thought as a Non -rugby watcher that was helpful Yeah, I agree The first episode When they were showing the first guy gosh off the top of my head I blanked right now whether or not he's from ireland or
scotland. He was like he's like their main player Yeah, and and they showed the training footage where he's like he doesn't care about strength conditioning type of training or whatever, you know, just inside of me that just like like I could really I can relate to having players like that because I've seen that happen. But man, it just drives you nuts. But I'm glad the guy admitted it. He said, you know, I'm probably I'm probably not the best in these training sessions.
Yeah, because his focus is different, you know, and it's interesting when he shared his story that he wasn't even really going to play. You know, yeah, and being on the national team wasn't really a like a big goal for him. Yeah, it wasn't in his life plan, but he went. I think what did he say? He left school to be a stonemason. Yeah, so that was interesting. I definitely felt the same in tight inside twinge when he said that and just like the description of the relationship
with the coach and how he. you know, maybe wasn't like the smartest character or he wasn't necessarily the most responsible outside of practice. And I think there are always, that always brings up specific instances of potentially like athletes that we've worked with where it's like, ah, how much better they could be if you would just maybe take those things a little bit more seriously, like the strength and conditioning or the recovery or the nutrition piece. But it was, Nice to see
that at least at the end of the episode. He was talking about With now having a daughter who at that point I think was almost 10 10 weeks old he had a Shift in perspective and I think that made him a little bit more Responsible and also made him want to be better and try more to set a good example for her Yeah agreed. He definitely seemed Like it's like the way that The episode started and the way it ended was seemed like a maturing as you were talking about
for sure. One thing that I noted from that episode about that guy was he plays on the Irish team, but he has an apartment in a Scottish team. Sorry. Sorry. And he plays there on their national team, but he has an apartment in Paris. Did you notice that they said it was his apartment? Yeah, it seems like they play in Paris a lot. So I don't know if maybe that's why or if maybe they have family there. I don't know. Yeah, who knows?
It could be kind of like how I don't know if I live in Tampa, but I have family somewhere else and I have an apartment there. I don't know. That's a good question. It was just interesting to me when when they came across like I had the little text on the screen to sit down. Wait, what? Yeah, yeah, they focused on on him and they focused on a guy from England who played similar position and this guy was Gosh, why am I I don't know I'm liking but he's from a different
country, right? He came from yeah, he was born in the Philippines and he Also went to school in Singapore before moving to England. Yeah, which was interesting that you know He's on national team for England and he's been elevated, you know to as their their top guy Mm -hmm. So I thought that was that was also interesting to you know highlight these two players Individually, right which I'm sure they're I like the other teams Players as we as we come around to it.
Yeah, and it seems like that position What was it called? something flyer it seems like they're the quarterback of the team essentially like they set the tone they're the kind of self -proclaimed or unspoken leader if you will of the team so I think it makes sense that they highlighted those two and I think the reason they probably highlighted the English and the Scottish ones was because of the rivalry but also I think because
They're pretty they're out of the six. I think they're the more high -profile teams from what it seemed like they were Describing. Yeah, not this year. No, I Ireland with the wind on st. Patty's day day. I bet they were They weren't gonna lose on that day. I know tell you that I watched that game. They played Scotland. They were not gonna lose Nice. Yeah, very interesting.
I Throughout the entire thing I am through my head what was going through it Just with what we talked about the physicality of it was I would be interested to see a little bit more of the behind -the -scenes of their training program their recovery Maybe we hear from like athletic trainers physicians if they work with any dietitians like but what meals look like and and that sort of thing because I think Obviously, we have a little bit more of an inside look into what that
looks like in America. And even if we haven't worked necessarily in like professional, it pretty much mirrors collegiate, but maybe just like a bigger budget. So I would be curious to see what these guys are doing just because of the physicality of the sport. And like, obviously, from my perspective, thinking of, you know, combining like, how do you combine nutrition for football, soccer, wrestling, MMA, like that's a lot of different things and energy systems and focuses.
How do you kind of navigate wrapping all of that into one sport and giving these guys the best recommendations for performance and recovery? So that was what was going through my head and being curious about what They might be told and what guidelines and resources are given versus what they actually are able to execute Yeah,
I agree. Also the thing that I was thinking about just like you were Was I was watching their their training footage right where they have these little clips of stuff that they're doing whether it's like hurdle mobility or There was some back squatting in the first episode second episode there was some rowing happening with the Italian team, which was a little limited on the range of motion. I'm not sure. I'm not sure why it was programmed the way it was. Yeah. There was
some trap bar deadlift. There was some sled pushing also in the second episode. So, yeah, I'm also watching these things. And sure, I have thoughts in my head about how to train rugby and Just trying to see like the different cultures, right? Because I know Training culture in I know in England. It's it's way different than it is in America, right? but like even different for what it is in Italy what it is in other parts of the UK or Ireland, so Yeah, it's just interesting.
I wish they would go more in depth. I feel like right now It's like we got to show off like the players get people who don't watch the sport to like have a little more interest in it Maybe
we'll see something like that episode. I don't know four or five six ish somewhere in the middle They can maybe go a little more in depth as the season goes on right and after they introduce, you know different storylines from different teams and whatnot in but Yeah, I want to I want to hear some more insight and I'm sure we could do our own research and reach out to other people but hopefully they can kind of give shed some light to Casual viewers, I guess if you will.
Mm -hmm Yeah, but you mentioned the Delight nutrition
side of it in the second episode. You see that guy in that giant burrito in the car Good for him yeah i'm sure too with their schedules they they have to be a little bit creative but yeah i think the main thing is just like how much stress the physical contact of like not having pads and being that physical during that sport and i'm sure during training and practice too how much strain that puts on their bodies Aces Nation is a team of former college athletes and
coaches on a mission to improve the sports culture experience and change today's expectations. We do this by helping every player maximize their athletic potential with professional programs to improve strength, speed, nutrition, and mental toughness, and by using sports to create a direct pathway to college with a guaranteed college scholarship program for all student athletes. Visit acesnation .org to learn more and schedule a demo. Let's go. And then you have lifting on
top of it. That's a lot. I mean, so that that alone will increase your energy requirements. But then also looking at like they're not small guys and a lot of them are very muscular. So that will also jack up your energy needs as well. Yeah, I would imagine a lot of those guys are trying to carry just a little extra body fat. If they can, just in case. Yeah, just in case
they need it. Yeah, but you're right. I mean, the energy expenditure of some of these guys, especially the two guys in the second episode. I mean, they were large human. Yeah. It was funny, too, because they're not like I think also when you maybe compare it to to American football, you can see like a pretty drastic difference between like body types and certain positions
in football. Whereas there was some difference in rugby, but I think it was much more consistent across the board of like, the larger guys were larger, but they weren't like that much larger than like the leaner guys. So they were all like,
pretty large. It was funny the comment made in the first episode about one of the guys, the commenter said, I don't know how he can be built like a t -rex but move like a ballet dancer Because he was moving So I thought that was funny too of like looking at how large these athletes are in terms of like they're just so muscular Their quads are huge. They're tall but they're fast Yeah, I know and and they're Gosh, they're so
so strong. I can't imagine being in the scrum right there with everybody pushing against each other Yeah, I think my body would break in half Yeah, I mean the all those moments of like high -force outputs is just incredible how they continue to do it, you know throughout the game and these directions and take hits and One of the interesting things I thought from the first episode when they were showing training was, you know how when you get tackled, guys will lay down on their
side and outstretch their arms for the ball back towards their players? They were training that to be like as fast as possible, right? Yeah. I thought that was really cool, right? Like I think that's a symbol of like we're keeping possession and type of thing. So. Yeah, just incredible how they do what they do Mm -hmm. Yeah, I thought that was interesting too and it it just kind of put the emphasis on like Whatever it takes
at all costs. We will not be turning this ball over so the fact that they're like Practicing that and drilling it in so that you know in the heat of the moment It's not like get rid of it. It's We've practiced this under pressure. I know what to do. It's second nature What didn't you
like about the first two episodes? I Don't know that there was anything I didn't like I think it's too early on to be like, oh I really didn't like that I think the only thing I could think of was what I mentioned before I'm just kind of not really getting more of a look into like what they're doing outside of practice because I'm just very curious about that but I think overall there was a good mix of Explaining things looking at the personal lives of the individual
players and then also showing the game and the competition Yeah Anything you didn't like well not gonna say let me put it this way first before I tell you what I didn't necessarily Like about it. It's really giving me welcome to Rexam vibes Minus the superstar owners, right? Have you seen welcome to Rexam? OK. OK. You know, Tim brought that up to us a long time ago when we were still working at Hyde House when the first season came out, we were working on direction. Yeah, we were
working at Hyde House when it came out. Oh, I don't know what that is. It's a show about. Well,
OK, I figured that. Thank you. So it gives me Welcome to Wrexham vibes, but without the superstar owners where I've seen the show I haven't seen the most recent season, but it really it kind of goes into the players on the squad What their personal lives are, you know what their backgrounds are and then it shows, you know match footage and and maybe they talk about some coaching perspectives or Front office perspectives or something like
that. So it's kind of giving me the same vibes here Which is good and I like that But this is the only part I didn't like they're only focusing
on like two people each one. So I'm only seeing one match two teams really, you know, like every episode where I feel like There's enough room to show four teams two matches and maybe go into four players But OK, like I wouldn't find it hard to handle everything back and forth moving from person to person because they pretty much put up the team name on the screen whenever they jump back and forth between players. Yeah, that's my only thing right now is it feels like only
eight episodes. Maybe we're not going to see a lot of people, you know, maybe they've got just certain ones honed in. I mean, they've got some people that they haven't talked about in particular that are speaking or commenting on the game in these like studio settings. Yeah. Yeah. That's maybe what the only thing I don't like is I feel like it's it's it's so limited in what they're giving me as far as how many people they're showing backgrounds for. Yeah.
Yeah. OK. Interesting. Also, the latency of the changes, you notice that the Italian coach is not Italian. I think he's Australian. or something. I did notice he wasn't Italian. I think a couple of the other of the players aren't either. Yeah, without one Italian guy that they highlighted. He was from New Zealand. I don't know. Yeah, something like that. Well, maybe the coach is from New Zealand and that would make sense, wouldn't it? Yeah. But yeah, the accent was different.
And yeah, that's another thing. I'm glad that that guy's girlfriend spoke Italian. in the documentary, right? Cause I was wondering like, man, they're showing us Italy, but no one's speaking Italian, you know? Yeah. I did notice that too. I was like, you're not from Italy or maybe you live there, but you're definitely not. We definitely don't speak Italian. Yeah. So, um, what do you, what's your call? I haven't looked ahead to the third episode. Uh, what's your call? What two
teams are they gonna highlight? Probably Ireland Yeah, I'm probably gonna say Wales because they haven't shown that okay Yeah, I would go with those two probably is the next one but yeah, you know, we'll have to see Maybe they'll circle back. I Don't know that'll be it'll be sweet
to find out. Yeah, I think if it's I haven't watched This one I know watched this since the last season came out so I can't quite remember but the formula one we were talking about tried to survive very similar, obviously, just focusing on Formula One drivers and teams and primaries and all that stuff. But the episodes, at least in the beginning, would highlight specific drivers,
specific teams. But then at some point, especially when it was a big race, it would just talk about everybody, depending on who was leading, who was doing not so great, if there were any crashes. So I wonder if maybe at some point they'll tie it all together, especially when it Starts to become like more of like the big championship season and they'll just kind of blend it all together and talk about everybody all at once
Yeah, maybe they will do that. I know you mentioned with that formula one show that there's a lot of drama this one I feel like there's just based on the second episode with those two big guys right going at you know Battling against each other in the game. I feel like there's a lot more respect probably between these guys then there were formula one drivers, but That's an
opinion. I don't know. Yeah, I don't Yeah, I would say there that you also probably have to have a lot more respect just because of the way this sport is like if you're Tackling people and like essentially manhandling people. I think it's to some degree like you have to respect each other immensely To not like really mess each other up Is there anything you're looking forward to in the next? six episodes I think I just want to get to know rugby as a sport more.
Like I'm just looking forward to continuing on and just learning more about the sport as a whole through getting to know the players, the team, the dynamics, and then just seeing the matches more just because I went into it understanding what rugby is, but not really having an idea of the ins and outs of it. Yeah. So we've seen three teams so far. Who's your favorite team
out of those three? I have this. I don't want to say it's an issue, but I feel like when I if I ever watch a show or something like this, whatever first team comes on, I have like an emotional connection to. So at this point, it's not not a bad team to root for there. So all right. That's good. That's good. Yeah, but we'll see how I feel next time Yeah, we'll see how
it goes as it continues. I'm excited about it to like you said just To keep learning a little bit more because they're probably gonna give
us some insights throughout I don't know. I don't know a ton about rugby but enough to know what a try is So for everyone listening a try if anyone says it that in rugby uh terms it's like a touchdown in american football right and then there's a point after attempt where they kick the ball through the uprights as well so some similarities that are happening there between american football and rugby but uh yeah i'm excited about continuing to to see more footage um maybe it'll just help
me think a little bit more critically about how to train that sport or how to train other sports or just maybe take key concepts away or help me to deep dive into different theoretical areas of strength and conditioning. So I'm excited to keep watching it, see these guys, you know who they are as people on the background. I think that the one guy from England in the second episode, he kind of reminded me of the world's strongest
man, Eddie. the beast oh really yeah he reminded me of him just a little bit because i've seen a documentary about him and you know they're both from england from these like these smaller towns and whatnot and so that's kind of just what it reminded me of when i was watching it but uh but pretty pretty cool so far uh i'm excited to see the other part uh shout out to uh my ga grace morgan for recommending the documentary so we'll see grace yeah I'm excited. I hope everyone
else continues to watch this. Maybe watch all eight and see if we even know what we're talking about, be ahead of the game. We'll pick back up on this one in a couple of weeks as we shift back to our normal strength conditioning and nutrition topics. So thanks for listening, everybody. We will catch you on the next one. See ya.