Principality Welsh Rugby Union Podcast

We talk about Covid bubbles, racism, Autumn Nations Cup reaction and a new coaching appointment on this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. We hear from Wales coach Wayne Pivac and players Tomas Francis and Gareth Davies, Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt on his anti-racism campaigning and new Wales Women’s coach intern Sophie Spence.

The end of the Autumn Nations Cup this weekend on the Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. Wales coach Wayne Pivac explains his thinking ahead of the game against Italy, while Wales’s Jersey Boys talk about their rise to international level.

We look ahead to Wales England at Parc y Scarlets with head coach Wayne Pivac, scrum half Lloyd Williams and flanker James Botham, as well as hearing about life in quarantine for the Dragons.

A chance to meet the new Wales Women coaching team in this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. Former USA Women’s Sevens assistant coach Warren Abrahams is the full-time Wales Women head coach, and 67-times capped former Wales captain and North Wales academy coach Rachel Taylor has been appointed as full-time Wales Women National Skills Coach. We also find out about some of the surprising connections in the team coach Wayne Pivac has picked to face Georgia.

A chance to hear at length from new interim Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union Steve Phillips. What are the chances of crowds being allowed into the Six Nations, how will Welsh rugby cope in the current situation – and what was it like playing with a young Shane Williams. We also hear from Wales coach Wayne Pivac, while flanker Shane Lewis-Hughes talks about what he’s learning from training with Alan Wyn Jones.

In this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast we reflect on the narrow defeat to Scotland with Blues scrum half Lloyd Williams and Scarlets prop Wyn Jones. We also hear from Tyler Morgan, the 2015 Rugby World Cup star making his comeback from injury and illness at the Scarlets.

The best build up to the visit of Scotland in the Six Nations this weekend, on the Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. We hear at length from Wales coach Wayne Pivac on his thinking, as well as paying tribute to 70s Wales rugby legend JJ Williams. We also hear from Gareth Davies, Owen Watkin and Sam Parry.

International rugby is back – we hear from the Wales men’s and women’s camps on this week’s Welsh Rugby Union podcast. Wales coach Wayne Pivac, forwards Cory Hill and Justin Tipuric discuss the match and the different preparation. We also get the chance to hear at length from the new man in charge of Wales Women, Darren Edwards.

We hear from both Wales Men and Women as they launch the new Macron team kit, in this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. Jonathan Davies describes his return from a potentially career-threatening injury, while Ross Moriarty describes life inside the Wales team bio-bubble. Wales Women’s captain Siwan Lillicrap and second row Gwen Crabb also look ahead to resuming their Six Nations campaign.

A special focus on the Wales squad for the Autumn internationals this week on the Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. We hear from coach Wayne Pivac in detail about his thinking, as well as one player included – Scarlets scrum half Kieran Hardy – and one player left out – Dragons outside half Sam Davies.

We hear from Wales internationals at all four regions, as the new Guinness Pro14 season kicks off this weekend We hear from Jake Ball at the Scarlets, Owen Watkin at the Ospreys, Josh Adams at the Blues and Rhodri Williams at the Dragons about their approaches to these games and potentially the Wales internationals following.

We hear from Wales Women’s international Alecs Donovan on a range of subjects. She is preparing for the re-arranged Six Nations game against Scotland, while also helping out in a great new partnership between the WRU and School of Hard Knocks to help members of the rugby community back into work if they have lost their job because of the Coronavirus crisis. And so much more . . .

Two Welsh teams in quarter-final action in the European Challenge Cup. We find out how Wales players Gareth Davies of the Scarlets and Aaron Wainwright of the Dragons are feeling after their breaks and return to action. Dragons Director of Rugby Dean Ryan discusses the differences coaching in England and Wales, and Scarlets head coach Glenn Delaney reveals an unlikely source of inspiration ahead of their trip to Toulon.

This week a special focus on disability rugby in Wales. We speak to Darren Carew, the WRU’s disability rugby co-ordinator, about the latest developments.

A chance to hear from players and a coach in this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. Scarlets captain Ken Owens, coach Glenn Delaney and Blues and Wales back rower Josh Navidi all talk about returning to action and lessons learned from the lockdown.

The developing return to rugby in Wales and a Welsh coach with the New Zealand champions – in this week’s Welsh Rugby Union Podcast. We speak to WRU regional manager for the Dragons region Adrian Evans at training in Caerphilly, while also talking to former Wales wing Mark Jones – now working with New Zealand champions the Crusaders and provincial side Canterbury.

Getting more women into refereeing is certainly a priority for the WRU referee’s department, taking charge of men’s games is a big part of that development. This week we speak to WRU national performance referee manager Paul Adams, along with 74 times capped former Wales prop Jenny Davies, who turned to coaching after giving up playing but is now moving up through the levels as a referee.

How do you cope in lockdown as an elite athlete? We look at the regions returning to action and in particular the Scarlets, under new management, with Glenn Delaney taking over as head coach. Backs coach Dai Flanagan has also been working hard as part of the WRU’s coach development scheme, so has plenty to talk about. Also former Wales international Richard Parks on how he coped with lockdown – along with some interesting warnings.

As rugby training re-starts at clubs round Wales, one person who can talk about it on several levels is the WRU’s hub officer at Cardiff and Vale College Lauren Holloway. She’s also club coach co-ordinator and minis and juniors COVID lead at St Albans in Cardiff, as well as the club’s Under 13’s coach.

John Manders is the new man on the WRU National Council, after being voted on by the member clubs in Wales. This is a chance to hear much more from the man himself, his background, what he hopes to achieve and the remarkable project which is transforming his beloved Old Illtydians Rugby Club.