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 are wrapping up Six Nations Full Contact, our review of this entire series
going over episode seven and eight today. um i'm talking about the champs from a couple of years ago you know uh so first of all i just want to put it out there if you listen to our last one we kind of predicted who we thought it was going to be claire you were right you called it ireland they were the winners i got to stick with my people that's right you know but what's crazy is like um the french team like i predicted they were there right they were they
were both just kind of neck and neck So to kind of start us off, going through both the episodes here, we saw early on that the show really started to highlight a couple of different players. Scotland's Stuart Hogg. And then I know as we get towards the end of it, Ireland's Johnny Sexton. Yeah, which I mean, they're both great players who, interestingly enough, both retired after the season in this documentary. But one of the things that kind of stood out when they were going with
Stuart Hogg is just. I think he was riding a horse in one of the episodes at his farm, and then they went to like this house where he was with his dad and they were talking about growing
up and stuff like that, but was just. how long he has played in the Scottish rugby system and also they went through some of his like injury stuff like man that dude's beaten up from the When he started playing I think for Scotland for like the nation when he was like 19 or something like that and then continued on to play but when they showed a couple footage where he was like taped up he was in the pool doing some movement,
like active recovery type of stuff. So I thought that was cool to go and see somebody who was really kind of a seasoned vet. Didn't necessarily go the same way when they were showing Johnny Sexton, but I remember when the two of them played, they both had really key injuries at the end, which kind of led into the final. game of the season, which was like I know Stuart Hogg had to come off because they also had his replacement, his backup on the Oh, he had a crazy name and
I can't remember off the top of my head. But anyways, so they were showing his backup quite a bit, you know, and how talking about how skilled he was and he didn't get the cap because Stuart Hogg got his 100th cap. And, you know, I think For me personally, like I think that was good for them to give him that 100 start, you know for his country So that's a big -time deal for it guys have been in it for that long or that close Can you imagine he retired after 99? I
don't know. Would he have retired after 99 you think? Who knows because he wouldn't have gotten hurt in that game. So he actually may have started the next week so interesting to think about the scenario that could have been but Oh, yeah, if he retired and he had 99 I think he'd probably be upset with the organization for a while, you know and Probably just be a little frustrated.
But yeah I thought those two different dynamics where they were showing us some veteran players and kind of like their Battles and their importance to the team and stuff like that was good for me to see and in episode seven And then then we got to eight and it was you know crunch time we're looking at championships and you know fall out from other games and stuff like that so um we were kind of talking off air about nutrition stuff i wanted to bring up some of the quote
-unquote nutrition elements that i saw uh and maybe rightfully so because we're in the locker room did you see the the food and and refueling stations that they kind of had there like hydration area they had a couple of tables like it was like during halftime in the locker room and it was like walking out for warm -ups or walking out for the game I swear they had like fruit and all different types of I don't know bowls trays of stuff like I couldn't tell what most
of it was but the fruit I knew it was fruit obviously um I thought that was interesting to see there um As being like seriously some of the most highlighted nutritional elements that we got in this series, right? Maybe I wonder if I maybe skipped over it because that to me is just like routine because that's what we do in American football or at least my experience with it At the collegiate level is that's what we had at halftime. We had
two big folding tables There were snacks. We had dietitians and interns walking around with trays of snacks trying to get guys to eat stuff at halftime. Um, so I, I mean, I remember that pretty clearly, like food was readily available, which I think it should be. So it was, it was kind of nice to see that, that, you know, they had like a similar system to try and make sure that these players are able to last throughout
the whole game. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, really, really tough, tough hole like match to go from first half, second half, and just all of the the bruising and the non -stop movement that they have to do, you know, it's incredible. Yeah, and it being so, so physical. Oh yeah, it's incredible, right? You think about, even when they get into like little scrums, it's, you're pushing at a really high force amount, right? Or just holding, you know, isometrically to be able to hold position
before the ref signals go. But anyways, yeah, it was interesting that I think we called this, right? Where it wasn't going to be as much of as we wanted to see, right? We want to see like more of this stuff, right? So they brought sports psychology in quite often, right? Early in that episodes three or four, they introduced it and started to like have them there, which was interesting because from a holistic approach, right? That's part of it, right? And so we're seeing pieces,
but we didn't really get, we got training. um like strength conditioning training early on too but i think that's probably how shows for sports fans go like not for like professionals right they show you that stuff early and then like later they just want the drama of the sport itself and more about the players yeah it does it was still it was still a good watch i enjoyed I enjoyed watching it and they are coming out with another season of it. So that'll be interesting
to see. Oh, and they fit the 2024 season. Yeah. So that'd be interesting to see kind of, kind of some of the storylines happening in that one. So yeah. As the games went along, Oh, let's, let's go back. Let me not pass over this. You did mention that you saw or you heard them speak about a nutritionist in one of the episodes before they were about to travel or something like that. Yeah, I can't remember which team it was. I remember
it being a woman's name. My memory is so bad, but just the coach reminding them to make sure all their meals were set with Kelly, like, or I think that's what they said, Kelly, you know, make sure you know what your breakfast needs to look like. Make sure you know what your meals need to look like so that we can, you know, have all of the pieces. of the puzzle in place and we're ready to go and there's no questions about
anything. So I did appreciate that because up until that point, it was kind of unclear unless we maybe did our own research. If they had any sort of nutrition support, if there was something on staff, if they were contracting with someone, are the players supposed to just figure that out on their own? Didn't know. So I think that kind of alluded to the fact that probably most of these teams have some sort of nutrition support on staff. Yeah, which is great because they need
it. And then we also looked up for sure that some of the teams have nutritionists on staff. So until the last episode, though, was really where a lot of anticipation was, particularly on the part of France. France went into their last game and they won rightfully so and they won a fifth point or something right like they
got They won that fifth. Yeah, they won that bonus point Which was big for them because they needed that And then they were just waiting in the locker room Afterwards and they were watching that England Ireland game and they needed England to win and what was crazy about that England Ireland game is that One of the players for England
his dad coached Ireland in that game. So his father coaching against son And I think that father won Six nations when he was a player for England, they did show some old old pictures of that Anyways, yeah, that was an interesting storyline Johnny Sexton playing in that game was an interesting storyline because he had gotten injured and they weren't sure about it. Yep. So yeah, I was just and then obviously Ireland ended up winning. Yeah, one of the England English
players got a red card. Yeah, but you saw like it got got overturned. Yeah, got overturned afterwards, like maybe like after the game, like maybe a few days later, something like that. Interesting, because what does that mean? Like, does a red card in rugby mean you're out for like multiple games and it gets overturned and you're like, you can start the next season? Like, I don't what is that overturning mean? Because the game is over. The season's over. Yeah. No, what is
that effect? I guess I don't know. So if I'm not mistaken from me watching Welcome to Wrexham with this is in soccer, though. OK, so I would assume some similar rules apply to cards. If you're given a yellow card, I think you pay a small, I think you pay a fine and you just can't get another one the next game or else you'll have to miss, right? If you get a red card, you're
obviously suspended for the next game. I think you probably end up with some type of fine as well, but I wonder if, if they had another game,
he wouldn't be able to play, right? But I think maybe the main thing is you're immediately disqualified from the game, which I really didn't like because Ireland they had a guy get a red card early in the game and they were playing yeah they did they were playing down and England had some advantage right and then that happened and now it was even it was neck and neck again and it was just uh oh it wasn't good for England right they needed the more they needed more opportunities yeah
um yeah so it was just unfortunate how that kind of played out for them Although that game was much closer than the French game. I feel like that one was kind of like the game right before the French playing. Who did they play? Wales. I feel like that was kind of like when I was at Florida State and we weren't very good at the time and we would play Clemson and you could just tell that they were much better than us. Yeah, I mean it was. I think they handled it
pretty well at the end, right? I think they went up a few scores and kind of separated from them as the game went on. But yeah, that England -Ireland game stayed pretty intense, I think, throughout the most part. But then I think later on, once they got even again. Yeah. Irish pulled away a bit. Yeah, they did. Actually, I take that back. I think England got the red card first
and then Ireland got one later. uh but it was it was too late at that point because they were playing a man down and it was just like you couldn't fill all the gaps or you know have everyone you know man on man so they had obviously had the advantage into scoring points so yeah it was interesting that it got overturned later on um 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! Johnny Sexton retired. Kieran, the Italian coach who's Australian. That guy,
they didn't renew his contract. Interestingly though, the Welsh coach pledged four more years. Warren Gatlin, I think is his name. I thought that was really interesting that they gave him four more years. They only won one match and that was against Italy. And his wife said that then I think it was, I know you love a good challenge. So yeah. Well, he's up for it because he's got a long way to go. He does. I mean, but they were so good early on when he was there. Oh, yeah.
Gosh, the fly half for Scotland. He became the first million dollar rugby player. Finn Russell, Finn Russell, that's his name. Yeah, I think he was one of the first ones highlighted in the whole series. Yeah, yeah, because they did the offensive guys or the fly halves, the two marquees early on. Who else? The big Italian guy that speaks really good English. I can't think of his name right now. Oh, yeah, the South African or the he's from Zimbabwe or something. But yes,
Italian team. yeah he got he got engaged which is great because they were kind of showing us a little bit of that relationship early on um what what else what else am i missing here from the closing uh what happened what happened next part of the show other the scottish player that retired because of his needs yeah yeah i think that was i think that was about it Oh, and then they showed at the end the French French coach he was like, you know, they they wanted they
were really Focused on yeah really focused on winning next year Yeah, okay, so out of all of those Storylines that we saw With what storyline that they didn't show you are you interested in knowing about? That's a good question. I think overall in terms of like highlighting players,
they did a good job. So I'm going to go back to storyline in the sense of more behind the scenes of like what the players do day to day with their training and nutrition and recovery and kind of the nitty gritty stuff that I would want to see that Maybe not everybody else would, but at least highlight it a little bit more, I would say. Yeah, I agree. I think that they were missing maybe... Do you remember any interviews with any strength coaches? Like even a couple
of words or something? No. I mean, they might have shown their faces when they were in the weight room, but even the weight room, it wasn't
like... They never really talked about... their training it was just kind of like yeah we go in the weight room like two times a week or whatever or if i'm angry i go in the weight room and lift some more and that's how i blow off steam but that was about it it was not really talking about like um a lot of the the programming or like the thought process behind it or like if there's anything particular that the strength conditioning coaches do I think that would be interesting
to see just to kind of compare for the viewer team to team like maybe what is Ireland doing that Italy's not or what is France doing that Wales isn't maybe even off the field and in practice and outside of like coaching and players that would be interesting for me to see because To us, I think that plays a huge role in separating
a good team from a great team. Yeah, I think even to get an interview from a dietitian or one of their strength coaches or whatever the title is that they have for them would be good because I would want to hear them talk about what those players need to do or need to eat. Yeah. to be able to play rugby at a high level. I think that would be important information or at least valuable information for people watching to know is like, oh, OK, so that sport, they
need to do blah, blah, blah. You know, I think that would that would be interesting, even if it's like. Within the first first half of the episodes, right, it's just a couple of minutes, you know, here or there. Exactly because then you're kind of setting it up and by like the last four episodes you're kind of getting into like the more anticipation of the championship.
But also obviously might be different if there's different players maybe there's new obviously some like Italy needs a new coach so they would be interviewing those people but otherwise it would just be the same thing over again and you know after a while that can get. Kind of boring if you're just watching the same thing over and over again You've got to add I feel like they should add different components just to keep it a little bit more entertaining and Differentiate
it from the first season Right. I know that they're gonna have new players right for the guys who retire they're gonna be Injecting the new people and what it's like for them to be now the top person on each team so There'll be some continued drama of what happened, what we saw from the first season and stuff. So hopefully they will add some different elements that they didn't have last season. So I don't know, we'll see.
But okay, so at the end of episode eight, when they were giving all the like, this is what this person's doing now, this is what this person's doing now type of thing. They only gave us a few were there any other people that you wanted to know about that they didn't show you Hmm I'm trying to think I Don't think they really highlighted any of the French players But maybe there was nothing noteworthy to mention of you know, they're just kind of coming back for next year So maybe
that's why they didn't do that. But that stood out to me that there were no French players at the end. But like I said, maybe they just didn't have any noteworthy life events or career changes or retirement that it was not worth noting. Yeah, there was a Welsh player. He was an older guy. I'm trying to think about the guy's name. Off
the top of my head. He's an older guy. He had been there for I know it's so bad when that happens, but Anyways, there was a Welsh player who was older who had been there I think for their last championship in 2019 I wanted to know that guy retired or not. And also I wanted to know if that Younger kid that they highlighted if he was like gonna be more consistent and starting. Those were a couple of things that I really wanted to know because I think obviously French coach
secure, Irish coach secure. England's probably fine too. Probably secure even though they had the like last minute get that guy because the other person left. Right. Yeah, Scottish coach, good shape. So I'd be I was really interested to know about those couple of players because everyone else I felt like is gonna return right you talked about I think even the Italian kid that was actually from Wales, but his grandparents are from Italy I think he's gonna be fine Mm
-hmm French players are all good. I think all the Besides the people who retired they'll be, you know, all fine and whatnot. So I was really just interested in those couple of players. But yeah, I'm glad that they I think it really adds some different element that they showed us that that red card got overturned. That was that was an interesting thing was like, wow, you know, in probably in England's mind, they're thinking
that they don't make that call. we win that game right you know as soon as they got the news for that they were like you gotta be kidding me we lost that game because of a bad call or a call they got overturned yeah that's always that's always hard but that's part of part of the game that is and so um it'll really kind of play into the motivation that england has for next year when they play them i mean i shouldn't say for next year for this past year when they played
them. So I'm sure some internal motivation was happening from that result. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'd be upset. No doubt. All right, Claire. So what would you say summing up the entire documentary? Would you? recommend who is your favorite team that they covered? You know, or like what was one of your most enjoyable moments from watching?
I think overall it was good. I think they did a good job of showing the personal lives of the players, their professional life as athletes, the coaching staff, kind of the team dynamics. And I think that played really well into what they were trying to convey and then also have us have a better understanding of what was going on on the field and kind of the team dynamics and the rivalries and such. So I think they did a really good job. I enjoyed it. I don't know
that one moment stands out to me. I think just in general, I really enjoyed watching the matches. Um, I feel like just that increased intensity and kind of like anxiety of like anything could happen. Who's going to get hurt. Um, just was interesting to watch because you don't know what's going to happen. You know, like going into it, you could say, yes, this team is better, but anything could happen. And it's really anybody's game if somebody were to get hurt or somebody
gets ejected from a red card. So I really enjoyed watching the matches having not known who was going to win and what happened that year. Yeah, it was great too. I thought they also did a great job with just how they presented it. Some of the camera angles during the matches were great because you don't really see them because I watched
this past season. So you don't always get those views and that was nice that they brought all these different Backstories and personal lives and things so you you honestly felt like you got to know this Player as a human being a little bit more and you probably connected in some way or another to these people. So Yeah, I also agree.
I think one of my most memorable moments it's like Kind of later on when they got into more technical elements of the sport because I don't know the sport as well I'm like that I Would say maybe I'm just one step ahead of a casual fan I'm not like a die -hard fan or anything, but I act I actually like to watch it and I know like about what time that those those games come on on Eastern time in the States so I Enjoy watching
them. I really do. I just I enjoyed learning a little bit more about it and kind of what these coaches have to go through when they're coaching and what the players you know maybe just is me being a former football player, just being able to relate to kind of like what these guys are dealing with from a context or perspective. So that thought was great. Honestly, I didn't see as much snow as I thought I was going to see in there. And I didn't see as much indoor training
as I thought I was going to see. A lot of people trained outdoors most of the time. And it was like over the winter time. So I thought that was very, very interesting. Yeah. I would definitely recommend it. I think, you know, you should watch it and it's only eight episodes. Chances are you get done watching it and then the other the other season is going to be out pretty soon. So you probably watch the other one. You might even start watching rugby. Who knows? Who knows?
Yeah, who knows? All right. Any closing thoughts? No, I don't think so. Like we said, it was a good documentary. If you're interested in learning more about rugby or just want a good sports documentary to watch and you've watched all the other ones, Six Nations is a good one to add to the list. Definitely. I would definitely recommend that people watch it, especially if you want to see something a little outside of what you may normally have known if you didn't grow up around rugby.
Are there any other sports documentaries out right now that you're interested in watching? That's a good question. I don't. I'm not super aware of a ton that are out, but the a few that I have. Watched either like previous seasons or like some of I really like drive to survive the Formula One. Yeah, that one's. Really good. I think I liked that one better just because it's more intense. Not that the stakes are higher, but I would say the danger and injury level is
higher. If you crash in a particular way, you could instantly die, unfortunately. There's that factor to it and there's just like more drama between The teams because you know, they're all together every single race. So there's you like see the tension between the I forget what they're called, but the Like the owner not the owners, but the coaches I guess I know they're not called coaches. I'm forgetting the name So I really like that one and then What is the golf one?
Full swing, I think it's called. Are you thinking of crew chiefs? Like pit crew people, like crew chiefs, like, hey, this is how we need to take care of your car. No, it's like the head guy. Manager? I guess it's a manager. Yeah, team manager. Anyways, yeah, full swing is also one that's out there that I've heard is pretty good. It's not one that I necessarily sought out, but I like caught glimpses of it and I was, I just, it caught my attention and I'm not a golf person.
So I would definitely rather watch that than like sit and watch golf. Yeah, true. Cause you can just get these little elements of it and get the highlights, right? Yeah. I with golf, if I'm in person, fine. Like I can totally do
it, but just on TV, it just is not for me. Yeah, I think the two that are out right now that are Interesting to me is number one receiver, which is I think the next part of the It's like the continuation of the quarterback Document that they had but focusing on receivers And then there's another one out called sprint and I don't know what it's about I'm sure it's about sprinters because that's what who's on the cover but I think it's just about maybe the life of a sprinter
and the training and whatnot what it takes to be the some of the one of the fastest people in the world so yeah those would be interesting for sure but I guess we'll get to those when we get to those huh yeah thanks for listening everyone we will catch you on the next one see ya