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Coaching Culture with Ben Herring is your weekly deep-dive into the often-overlooked “softer skills” of coaching—cultural innovation, communication, empathy, leadership, dealing with stress, and motivation. Each episode features candid conversations with the world’s top international rugby coaches, who share the personal stories and intangible insights behind their winning cultures, and too their biggest failures and learnings from them. This is where X’s and O’s meet heart and soul, empowering coaches at every level to foster authentic connections, inspire their teams, and elevate their own coaching craft. If you believe that the real gold in rugby lies beyond the scoreboard, Coaching Culture is the podcast for you.
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What makes championship teams truly exceptional? The answer might surprise you. It's not extraordinary talent, cutting-edge tactics, or even flawless execution during competition—it's what happens when nobody's keeping score. Drawing from Sam Vestey's remarkable success with Northampton Saints, this episode reveals how elite teams deliberately build three critical foundations off the field: communication, organization, and connection. These aren't soft skills or nice-to-haves—they're the bed...
What does it truly mean to build an authentic culture in high-performance sports? Greg Peters, whose remarkable 25-year career spans leadership roles at Bay of Plenty Rugby, New Zealand Rugby Union, the Hurricanes, Argentina Rugby, SANZAR, and now as CEO of New Zealand Rugby League, reveals the profound insights he's gathered from both sides of the rugby divide. Peters challenges conventional wisdom about leadership, arguing that culture isn't about "words on a wall" but something tangible y...
If you want to book Wal for your team you can reach her here: wal@walherring.com or check out her womans wellness programs here: Walherring.com What if everything you see on your body was made from what you ate at some point? This profound insight from sports nutritionist Wal Herring serves as the foundation for a revolutionary approach to nutrition and wellness. Drawing from her extensive experience with elite teams like Leicester Tigers and the English Rugby League, Wal shares how nutrition...
What does it really mean to build a winning culture in sports? Few coaches can answer this question with the depth and global perspective of Mike Friday, international rugby sevens coach whose 25-year journey has taken him from England to Kenya to a decade with USA Rugby. "Culture is a group of individuals that have alignment in the way they go about their business," Friday explains with refreshing simplicity. But beneath this straightforward definition lies a profound coaching philosophy ce...
The quest for high performance in team sports often leads coaches down the wrong path. What if the secret to winning isn't about collecting the most talented individuals, but something far more fundamental? Ben Darwin's groundbreaking research through Gainline Analytics has produced a data goldmine that challenges conventional wisdom about building successful teams. As I unpack five crucial insights from his work, you'll discover why cohesion—not star power—consistently predicts championship...
What if everything you thought about building team culture was wrong? Chris Boyd, the celebrated coach who transformed teams from the Hurricanes to Northampton Saints, challenges conventional wisdom by arguing that "culture grows organically and internally" rather than being imposed from above. Drawing from decades of experience across multiple continents, Boyd reveals the leadership principles that have made him one of rugby's most respected coaches. His refreshing approach emphasizes givin...
The difference between good coaches and great ones isn't found in tactical knowledge or technical expertise—it's their ability to read people. This fascinating exploration of interpersonal sensitivity reveals why the world's elite coaches prioritize human connection before anything else. High-performance manager Chris Webb, who has worked with multiple World Cup rugby teams, shares his powerful observation: "The real difference comes down to interpersonal sensitivity—your ability to read a m...
What makes a great coach? Joey Mongalo, defense coach at the Sharks in Durban, doesn't hesitate when answering this question: it's the ability to understand context, connect authentically, and treat leadership as a core skill rather than a "soft" one. Joey brings extraordinary perspective to coaching culture as someone with both elite rugby coaching experience and multiple academic degrees, including industrial psychology. His approach bridges technical expertise with profound human understa...
The silent opponent every coach must face isn't on the field—it's within. This episode dives deep into the complex relationship coaches have with their egos and how mastering (not eliminating) this powerful force can transform your leadership. Drawing from wisdom shared by elite coaches like Steve Hansen and John Wooden, we explore the crucial distinction between healthy competitive drive and an under-controlled ego. Your ego supplies the fire that fuels excellence, but when left unchecked, ...
Seilala Mapusua takes us on a profound journey through the cultural landscapes of rugby, drawing from his remarkable career spanning from Samoa to New Zealand's Otago, London Irish in England, and Japan's Kubota Spears. At the heart of this conversation lies a powerful coaching philosophy: "Connect with the person, then you can coach the player." Mapusua reveals how this approach becomes especially crucial when working with Pacific Island players, whose cultural foundations rest firmly on fa...
When James Dolman steps onto a rugby field to referee a test match, he carries years of mental preparation, relationship-building, and self-reflection with him. In this revealing conversation with Ben Herring, Dolman takes us behind the scenes of elite officiating, exploring the psychological challenges that come with making split-second decisions under immense pressure. "The struggle is trying to be a perfectionist," Dolman admits, describing the mental battle that follows high-stakes match...
What separates championship team cultures from the rest? For legendary All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith, it comes down to something invisible yet incredibly powerful: "that feeling that binds you all together." Drawing from his extraordinary career spanning 185 games for the Highlanders and 124 tests for the All Blacks, Smith reveals the stark contrasts between navigating life as both an underdog and a world-beater simultaneously. The Highlanders' 2015 championship season emerged from what Sm...
What makes a truly meaningful team culture? It's not just putting values on a wall or running team-building exercises. According to Ben Herring, it requires a deliberate framework with three essential components working together to form what he calls your "culture circle." The first component challenges conventional thinking about success. While public definitions of success—winning championships, hitting targets, earning promotions—certainly matter, they create an emotional rollercoaster wh...
When a coach with 42 years of experience and three World Cup titles speaks, the rugby world listens. Mike Cron, forwards coach for the Wallabies and veteran of 217 All Blacks matches, opens up about the coaching philosophy that's made him a legend in the sport. What makes a great rugby culture? According to Cron, it starts with having "an aim or goal that's higher than an individual" and creating a safe learning environment where players can take risks without fear. The traditional dynamic o...
Ever wondered why certain coaches' words stick with you for decades? That's not coincidence – it's the powerful alchemy of language and leadership. Words shape our reality as coaches and leaders. When we speak, we're not merely giving instructions or feedback – we're literally creating the internal dialogue that plays in our athletes' minds long after practice ends. This episode explores the profound neurochemical impact of coaching language: positive reinforcement triggers dopamine, enhanci...
Dan Bowden's rugby journey spans three continents and multiple elite environments, from the Crusaders' player-led culture to Leicester Tigers' strict framework. Now, as attack coach for Japan's national team, he's blending these experiences into something uniquely effective. Standing in the coach's box after Japan's stunning 24-19 victory over Wales, Bowden wasn't simply celebrating. He was already analyzing what they could improve. "Don't get me wrong. It was wonderful, but we played poorly...
"Act as if it's impossible to fail." Those words from a 1932 book became a rallying cry for the Boston Free Jacks during their historic championship season. Head coach Ryan Martin reveals the remarkable human-centered strategies behind his team's unprecedented third consecutive MLR championship. Martin's approach defies conventional wisdom. When most coaches would double down on training, he reduced practice to just 47 minutes including warm-up during the championship run. Instead of elabora...
From the heat of championship matches to the quiet moments of career transition, James Marshall's coaching journey offers a masterclass in modern rugby leadership. The former Hurricane turned Crusaders backs and attack coach reveals how authentic connection has become his coaching superpower, allowing him to build relationships that transcend the traditional coach-player dynamic. At the heart of Marshall's approach lies a radical commitment to player empowerment. Rather than clinging to cont...
What's the difference between teams that thrive under pressure and those that crumble? It's not just talent or resources—it's culture. In this thought-provoking episode, I take you beyond buzzwords to explore why culture truly serves as the heartbeat of high-performing teams. Culture lives in that gray, hard-to-measure space that surrounds all the visible parts of performance. I share my galaxy analogy: your skills and techniques are like stars, but culture is the rich, dark matter that allo...
Simon Cron, head coach of the Western Force, opens up just days before his team's monumental clash with the British and Irish Lions—a once-in-a-generation opportunity that comes around only every 12 years. With remarkable candor, he reveals his approach to preparing players for high-pressure situations through mental clarity rather than tactical complexity. "You're not trying to think a whole lot, you're just trying to do, and that's the only way you can get it done," Cron explains, sharing ...
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