Rugby Through The Leagues Podcast

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 Rugby Through The Leagues (Rugby TTL) shines a light on rugby beyond the mainstream — tier 2 and tier 3 nations, grassroots clubs, Spanish rugby, Rugby Europe, Super Rugby Americas, sevens and the global game. Honest interviews and analysis with the players, coaches and characters the spotlight ignores. New episodes regularly — subscribe on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

  1. 3h ago

    Rugby Injuries, 4G and Getting Back Fit — Chris Jenkins, The Rugby Injury Physio

    Physio Chris Jenkins, The Rugby Injury Physio, joins The Rugby in Europe Round-Up live with Carl and Pasc. He talks about his Game Ready index for medical rooms, why 4G pitches hit older forwards hardest, why the same knee injury tends to be worse on 4G, the mistakes amateur players make with injuries, why two weeks off is enough in the off-season, the words that get a rugby shoulder seen quickly, the night the invasion of Ukraine ended his time with Russia rugby, and his new book, Rugby Injury Prevention & Return to Play. Chris is at the Match for Mental Health at Cardiff Arms Park this Friday. Chris's book: amazon.co.uk/dp/1919373705 Chris on Instagram: @therugbyinjuryphysio Full episode on YouTube: @RugbyTTL · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    Rugby Injuries, 4G and Getting Back Fit — Chris Jenkins, The Rugby Injury Physio

  2. Oct 23

    Bringing Rugby to Liberia — Mark Hegarty, Liberia 7-15

    Welsh filmmaker Mark Hegarty joins The Rugby in Europe Round-Up to talk about Liberia 7-15, his project to take rugby sevens to all 15 counties of Liberia within five years. It started with a choir trip in 2021. Now every player has to complete education on preventing violence against women before they can play, and a meal after training is a big part of why the kids come. We also talk about recording in George Weah's studio, running the project transparently, and what it would cost to run a nation's rugby. Help Liberia 7-15: whatcanidoo.org.uk Full episode on YouTube: @RugbyTTL · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    Bringing Rugby to Liberia — Mark Hegarty, Liberia 7-15

  3. Oct 16

    A Try Inside Two Minutes on His Barça Debut — Arthur Lennon, FC Barcelona Rugby

    Arthur Lennon joins The Rugby in Europe Round-Up live, the day after his first start at fly-half for FC Barcelona Rugby, where he scored inside two minutes. He talks to Keith Hammond, Pasquale and Ethan Bradley about the debut, losing at the death with a young squad, seven-hour coach trips in Spain's second tier, and what a successful season looks like for Barça. Plus London City Sevens with Perpignan, Wales v Spain, the best coaching advice he's had as a 10, and how you recover when you play six sevens games in a day. Recorded live on The Rugby in Europe Round-Up, Episode 4. Follow Arthur: instagram.com/arthlennon10 Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    A Try Inside Two Minutes on His Barça Debut — Arthur Lennon, FC Barcelona Rugby

  4. Oct 9

    The City With 161 Rugby Clubs and No Rugby Balls — Max Derbyshire (DotDarbs)

    Carl talks to Max Derbyshire, DotDarbs on Instagram, from a borrowed bedroom in Yerevan. Darbs has hitchhiked from Georgia, where he was filming the Didi 10, to spend time with Armenia's rugby community and the Iran national team. It all started with a phone that went missing in the post and a cheap flight to Madagascar two days later. There he found what's reported to be the city with the most rugby clubs on Earth: kids playing in the streets with water-bottle balls, fifth-tier games on dust pitches with sticks for posts, and flares and pom-poms on final day. Yet you can't buy a rugby ball in a shop. Before that, India: coaching in Kolkata, the West Bengal women's sevens, more than a day on a train to the nationals, and the story of Sumit Roy, who walked eight kilometres to training and is now one of the stars of the Indian Rugby Premier League. Plus "small but quick", the Africa Sevens, cycling the length of Madagascar to raise money for rugby balls, and a bucket list running from China to Iraq. Follow Darbs: instagram.com/dotdarbs Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    The City With 161 Rugby Clubs and No Rugby Balls — Max Derbyshire (DotDarbs)

  5. Oct 5

    EXCLUSIVE: Arthur Lennon Signs for Barça Rugby

    Rugby TTL exclusive: Arthur Lennon reveals his move to Barça Rugby — with Carl and Pasquale from Game Day Bites. In this episode: the call from director Javier Soler and why a dropped-down Barça appealed more than the safe option; what new head coach Juan Pablo Socino wants from his fly-half; and what years in and out of Spanish rugby taught a player who arrived mid-COVID without a word of the language. Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com & rugbyttl.app 00:00:00 A Rugby TTL Exclusive 00:00:30 Signing for Barça Rugby 00:01:00 Barça's Drop to Elite A 00:02:00 The Sant Cugat Game That Started It 00:02:30 The Call from Javier Soler 00:03:00 Juan Pablo Socino Takes Over 00:04:00 When Barça Come Knocking 00:05:00 Academies & Building the Base 00:06:00 Learning the Language 00:07:00 One-Year Deals & the "One Plus One" 00:08:00 Arriving Without a Word of Spanish 00:09:00 Taking the Plunge Mid-COVID 00:10:00 What Spain Taught Him 00:11:00 The Players Who Never Took the Chance 00:12:00 Natural Talent vs Hard Work 00:13:00 The Pull of La Vila 00:14:00 MVP Days & Memories 00:15:00 Coaching Connections in Toledo 00:16:00 South Americans in the Spanish Game 00:17:00 The Athleticism Gap 00:18:00 The Elite A Format 00:19:00 Contracts & Chances at This Level 00:20:00 Towns That Turn Out for Their Club 00:21:00 What Players Back Home Don't Get 00:22:00 How Barça Want to Play 00:23:00 Recruitment & the Set Piece 00:24:00 Turning Around a Poor Run 00:25:00 Never-Ending Excitement 00:26:00 A Packed Stadium & That Touchline Conversion 00:27:00 One Vision for Spanish Rugby

    EXCLUSIVE: Arthur Lennon Signs for Barça Rugby

  6. Sep 25

    35 Asked, 3 Said No — Dan Elsom, British & Irish Expats Rugby

    Two days before British & Irish Expats Rugby play their first ever fixture, Carl talks to the man who built it. Dan Elsom grew up in Sydney, played Shute Shield, then spent five years in the English national leagues — and came home missing the culture he'd found in British and Irish grassroots rugby. The idea arrived watching the Lions take on the Wallabies. The maths arrived shortly after: there were already dozens of British and Irish qualified players out here playing Shute Shield and Hospital Cup, and nobody had ever put them in the same shirt. What follows is an unusually honest account of how a concept becomes a team. A DM to Harry Fehily, former Shute Shield Coach of the Year, left on read for two days. Then a coffee. Then a head coach — and only then, players. Fehily asked 35. Three said no. Dan is clear about the gap he's trying to close: Australia has the Shute Shield, and it has Super Rugby, and since the National Rugby Championship folded there's nothing in between. He's just as clear about the part nobody posts about — twelve months of nights after work, and personal money, with no headline sponsor yet. Plus Sam Thomson as inaugural captain, a Pacific Warriors squad that made Dan glad he's retired, eight nations in one fixture, and where this goes next: World Cup warm-ups for Tier 2 nations, and Super Rugby pre-season. 🏉 Heritage Cup — British & Irish Expats v Pacific Warriors. Pittwater Park, Sydney, Sunday 27 September. 17:00 AEST / 08:00 UK. Free entry. Live on Rugby TTL with our own commentary. Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    35 Asked, 3 Said No — Dan Elsom, British & Irish Expats Rugby

  7. Sep 11

    "If It Wasn't For Rugby, I Probably Wouldn't Be Here" — Nathan Mason, Match for Mental Health

    A special one before the season restarts. Carl talks to Nathan Mason, the man behind Match for Mental Health — back at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday 30 October, kick-off 19:30, raising money for Tough Enough To Care and Looseheads RFC. Nathan never set out to organise anything. A conversation about sevens turned into "I've got the Arms Park, do you know any charities?", and he said yes before he'd thought about it. The first edition landed in October 2025 — a few hundred in the stand, Josh Navidi, Dillon Lewis, Alex Cuthbert and Josh McNally coaching, Harry Morgan, Dan Baker, Richard Carpenter and Nico Matawalu playing alongside community lads. He stood still at the final whistle with a tear in his eye, mostly out of relief. Then the reason the game exists. Nathan is open about his own struggles in 2019–20: the "blips" he learned to spot, using drink to flatten the feeling, and what he built afterwards — writing down what he can and can't control and binning the half he can't, shutting the laptop and walking, being honest with the lads. On what actually helped: therapy, medication, peer support and the physical side. A bit of everything, no single fix. In between, Welsh rugby gets a proper going over — the regions, the WRU, empty seats against South Africa, age groups falling away at Abergavenny, and why the game keeps watering itself down instead of packaging itself for people who won't sit through eighty minutes. Looseheads RFC want a mental health lead in every rugby club in the world: 36 countries and 1,300+ clubs so far. Tough Enough To Care run peer support groups across the Midlands and the south. Both split the £10,000 fundraiser target. 🎟️ Tickets: Cardiff Rugby's website (30 October), or the link in the @match4mentalhealth Instagram bio. 💬 If any of this lands close to home, talk to someone today — a mate, your club's mental health lead, or your GP. In the UK, Samaritans are on 116 123, free, 24/7. Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com · rugbyttl.app

    "If It Wasn't For Rugby, I Probably Wouldn't Be Here" — Nathan Mason, Match for Mental Health

  8. Aug 21

    He Nearly Quit — Then Scored a Hat-Trick on Debut — Niel Otto, The Dukes

    The Ascent Rugby Series miniseries continues. Carl talks to Niel Otto of The Dukes, Den Bosch, before their opening festival in Frankfurt — and the weekend after, when the Dukes host one of their own. Niel was at Griquas in the Currie Cup. His contract ended at 27 and he had all but decided to stop playing and go into strength and conditioning. He moved to the Netherlands, Googled the nearest rugby club just to meet people, and came off the bench on debut in Amsterdam — in the worst weather he'd ever played in — to score a hat-trick. On the step between levels: it isn't that the top is more physical, it's that the error rate is lower and mistakes get punished. On the Dukes reaching their first final in ten years and losing one they feel was theirs. And on continuity — keeping a core together season to season — as the thing that got them back there. Plus a first opponent nobody can scout, young players with a real chance to stake a claim, and the weekend the Dukes host: a rugby day that has turned into a festival, a town built for it, and the thousand people who came back to the clubhouse after they lost the final anyway. 🎟️ ascentrugby.com · 📺 Festival #01 live on RugbyPass, with Carl on co-commentary. Subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/@RugbyTTL) · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · rugbyttl.com

    He Nearly Quit — Then Scored a Hat-Trick on Debut — Niel Otto, The Dukes
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 Rugby Through The Leagues (Rugby TTL) shines a light on rugby beyond the mainstream — tier 2 and tier 3 nations, grassroots clubs, Spanish rugby, Rugby Europe, Super Rugby Americas, sevens and the global game. Honest interviews and analysis with the players, coaches and characters the spotlight ignores. New episodes regularly — subscribe on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

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