Episode 30 - The New Beginning - Adam and Buster join the Rugby TTL Family!

In this episode of Rugby Through The League's podcast, host Carl welcomes new co-hosts Buster and Adam, discussing their shared love for rugby, their friendships, and plans to explore grassroots rugby across the country. The team talks about the recent resurgence of the podcast, the introduction of new segments, and exciting grassroots matches in upcoming weeks, including South Sea Nomads and Hook and Odiham RFC. They also touch on personal updates, including Carl's training and rugby return, and share thoughts on significant rugby news and updates. Join them for insightful dialogues, heartfelt stories, and enthusiastic rugby discussions.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Rugby Through The League's podcast. This week, we, , finally had the two additional members of the crew that we spoke about the other week. So, Buster and Adam joined us. So, Buster and Adam, good mates of mine from back Portsmouth way, and, , Well, all we talk about is rugby and our kids and life and stuff like that.
We've got group chats where we just chat shit about rugby. So I thought they'd be the perfect fit to come on board and, , be able to talk about a beautiful game and be able to go and visit grassroots rugby, , in the local area and slowly take that across the country eventually. So yeah, really good group chat.
Time to get them added on. , obviously [00:01:00] you need a break for the pod. We'll carry on the content though. So the content is going to keep coming out via them. , allow us to actually get back into grassroots and we might be able to reshuffle how we do the pod. , because it's a bit of time to, to think, I think it'd be also a good way of adding a couple of extra lads to, to the interviews and stuff like that as well.
So yeah, really good time to get the pod moving forward again. And,, yeah. Two really top lads, , Buster, good mate, really good mate of mine, , big big boy as well, 6ft 8 or something stupid like that. So, when you see him out in public, he, , he definitely fits the bill. Adam, as,, as we discuss in the pod, more, , more of a spectator, but played his, played his fair share here and there.
He's just got an ankle that, , The elephant man would be proud of. So yeah, really top lads, really good time to get them on the pod. And,, yeah, really glad to, to be able to keep the pod moving forward while I need a bit of a break to, to plan ahead of how we want to [00:02:00] carry on moving the content, et cetera, et cetera.
So yeah, good times. , as you can see, it's a sunrise in Spain this morning. So I managed to get out a to get this one done. , want to give a bit of an Transcribed , rugby return update as well. I haven't stopped. I'm still playing. Well, I'm still training at the minute, bit of a gap in the, in the playing window at the minute.
, due to obviously what's happened in Valencia as well, which seems to be worsening by the day, the more and more they find. So thoughts and prayers are still out there. for everyone in regards to that as well. So rugby return is still happening. I've got a break, , probably back to it at the start of December.
So it gives a bit of time to carry on training, get back out game time. I'm going to try and make sure I get that sort of the actual footage sorted as well, because it's boring me just chatting into a camera saying, I'm going to go play rugby. I want to get the camera sorted so that I can actually go and play a game or play, do training sessions with, , with a camera fitted.
So that's why that's kind [00:03:00] of taken a sidestep. I haven't given up. I'm still playing. I'm still in the gym. Bending barbells, still busting me bollocks every, every day of the week. Trying to make sure that I'm getting back into a decent shape and he's doing an exceptional job. So if anyone needs any, any, , coaching advice or an online coach give him a shout because what he's done so far is is brilliant, especially for blokes that I've got a family got a life got everything else to add onto the mix.
, he fully understands it So yeah, it's a completely different change of pace to most Online coaches. , so yeah, really good top bloke worth well worth a shout if you need to Get your shit in order In other news, There's One of the lads from Denia, from the, from there, from the S18 age group.
Sadly got hit by a car the other week. , on his moped. He's currently in a coma. The signs aren't, looking great. So, to Alex, just want to send all,, all the thoughts and prayers as well to you, mate, because [00:04:00] it's terrifying. A 16 year old that's potentially been wiped out in,, In one movement, , by a car coming off the wrong side of the road.
So yeah, hopefully Alex comes, comes through, but the sirens aren't looking great. Another great rugby player that's potentially been lost to a terrifying accident in the world. So, thoughts are out there and, , make sure everyone's safe, because, , tomorrow may never come. So, make sure you, , you do. Do everything you want now, because it may never come.
So on the end of that morbid note, let's get on with this one. Two blinders, two blinding presenters to jump on board. Two top quality blokes, love, love rugby, Bristol Bears fans. So I'm sure Bristol Bears fans will enjoy their, their opinions. , and yeah, hope everyone else loves how the pod's moving forward.
Carl: , one of the last of the series. , as we mentioned, we are venturing back out into grassroots rugby. We're going back to doing grassroots rugby days. [00:05:00] And , I've managed to talk these two degenerates into joining the team. , Buster, Adam, do a little intro for yourselves lads and, , sort of say hello to everyone , in the following and where we're going to go with the pod.
Carl: Buster, do you want to start? 
Buster: . Hello, , I'm Buster. I'm Carl's mate, he's asked me to, , get involved. Quite keen. , me, Adam and Carl do the old, , rugby days out two or three times a year, so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty much all we talk about, to be fair, isn't it? Yeah, pretty much. And the kids.
Carl: That's about it, 
Buster: isn't it? Yeah, I, , me, me personally, not currently playing it. I haven't done for years, but, , massive fan and, , got a young lad now and, , keen to get him into grassroots rugby and, , just thought it'd be nice for me to get involved in a different way as well and help Carl out, go and meet some teams, try and, , spread the word a little bit.
Buster: Because your lad's joined. He's a Portsmouth, isn't he? Yeah, he's joined Portsmouth under 6s, only 4. But,, I'm [00:06:00] trying to start him as early as possible. Absolutely loves it. 
Carl: You sent a photo in the group chat the other day, didn't you, of him piss wet through on his first proper wet 
Buster: training session. Yeah, it was his first proper character building one the other day.
Buster: , absolutely, , hacking it down. Blown a pearler. Cancelled the Great South Run the same day because of the weather. Blown a pear. I think that's just a testament to grassroots rugby, isn't it? Rugby goes ahead when everyone else gets rained off, so, things, , But like I said, there's a bit of character building in it and actually I think that was his most enjoyable session yet.
Buster: He loved it. So sort of said to me, what if I get, what if I get soaking wet through and covered in mud? And I was just like, we've got a bath at home haven't we? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Or at least a hose in the garden to wash it down. But, well, that's what happened to me when I was a nipper, when I used to come home, my mum used to strip me down and hose me down in the garden, but he didn't get that treatment.
Carl: Uh, 
Buster: [00:07:00] lucky man. 
Carl: Go on then Adam, what, what we got from you mate? Yep. So as Carl's mentioned, my name's Adam. , don't play very often. I haven't had a particular stellar career playing rugby. It's games here and there. , still have the odd one for the vets every now and again, although that's been a while. I always see myself as more of a spectator than a player.
Carl: But yeah, so the opportunity to jump in with these two lads and get down and still be around the game, particularly at the grassroots level, , is one I couldn't turn down. So very much looking forward to getting involved. Must be quite hard for you to still try and play with an ankle like yours as well.
Carl: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. It is one of the limiting factors you two have, , you, you can bear testament to just how bad my ankle gets. , isn't anything like it. Merely just being out on an all dayer at Twickenham, , the swelling is, is quite obscene, so imagine when I'm trying to run around the pitch for 60, 70 minutes.
Carl: It's like, it's like the elephant man, just with one ankle [00:08:00] though, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. So I think, I think most teams, if I turned up with that, they'd, they'd turn me down. Just put you straight on the injured list. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. , but we've, , we've also got, , Adam's granddad, who sort of potters around with us as well as part of the, part of the group than he, so the jackal is, , well known 
Buster: as the jackal.
Buster: Yeah. 
Carl: He might even be making an appearance in the sort of the first, the first grassroots game that we've got lined up as well. , he's a, he's an avid rugby fan as well. Top bloke and just. 
Buster: And top gardener. He's Yeah. And enjoying his, , allotment produce all year. He drops it around for me and the kids.
Buster: Yeah. Top man. Yeah. Yeah. 
Carl: He lives and breathes the game. I mean, there, there won't be a day goes by that he, he doesn't drop me a message about one of the games coming up at the weekend or what's going on with the Bristol Bears. Yeah. You name it. And not only that, he can go pint for pint with us lads on a full day of twicking him at nearly 80 years old [00:09:00] is quite remarkable in my opinion.
Carl: He's, , he's a geezer for that. , obviously, you boys, both Bristol Bears fans as well. , sort of, that's, we've been to a few games recently. But you know, the season so far, lads, they've not done too bad. I think the season's wide open, really. 
Buster: Yeah, it seems to be, , sort of four teams flying at the top of the league, doesn't it?
Buster: Bristol being one of them, playing some beautiful, , expansive rugby. They've also, , I think, I think the biggest thing that's changed this season is they're fronting up defensively, aren't they? Yeah. And, , not afraid to play it from their own half. Great to see. I think,, I was reading as well that they're well under the salary cap.
Buster: So The,, system they've got in place for bringing the younger guys through. Sounds like it's working quite well. 
Adam: Yeah. A few of them were fronted up, haven't they? They've been called upon. There's been 
Buster: quite 
Carl: a few injuries 
Buster: early 
Carl: in the season. We've seen a few of the younger lads step up and 
Buster: I see that they've been chucking some wedge about and they're trying to get a, trying to get a world class [00:10:00] 10, but I'm not sure who they're going to get yet.
Adam: There was a, yeah, there was apparently, , an offer from, for Marcus Smith on that. 800k a year. , but allegedly he turned it down. I can't see it. I'm sure Quinn's will be able to do something around that. He's not going to go to Bristol. He ain't going to go unless he goes Sarries, but that's the only team that's going to be able to chuck that sort of money at, at him unless he goes to France, but he's not going to sacrifice his England career 
Buster: for, 
Carl: for that.
Buster: No, it's just got one of them, , England contracts in me. So, , I don't think he's, , I don't think he's going anywhere. I can't see him moving for at least a few years, especially not with Farrell abroad. 
Carl: Well, there's obviously they reckon Farrell might be coming back. He wants to put his flag back in the ground, but let's wait and see how that one goes as well.
Carl: So, , Joe Batley, friend of the pods, obviously you guys big fans. I saw that I saw the messages in our group chat the other day. Yeah. Batley to England. Batley [00:11:00] to England. He's been overlooked again, , in the option of Ted Hill. Love to see 
Buster: it. 
Carl: Yeah. Ted Hill, an exceptional operator though as well, so, uh, and.
Carl: Yeah, he's 
Buster: been brilliant, isn't he? 
Carl: And Joe, Joe also said that he was tipped to be there for the Summer Internationals, so. How good has Joe got recently? He, I mentioned it in the pod with him that obviously he's, he's sort of gone through the gears and I think this season he's managed to really probably put himself in the shop window again.
Buster: I mean, me and, me and, me and ad message through most games and, you know, have like a running commentary between us. And I can't remember the last game where we haven't been talking about how brilliant he's been. He's at, he's at the breakdown. He's always on the shoulder. He's clearing boys out. He's chopping boys down.
Buster: And he's. He's mustard, isn't he? Yeah. He's 
Carl: almost 
Buster: take him for granted 
Carl: now. I think he'd love to have him on your team. Yeah. And it's just, for me, the other thing is, is [00:12:00] he, yeah, he's got that kind of talismanic aura about him, you know, even when a try goes over, he's up there. He's, he's jeering up the fans.
Carl: Just love to see it. You can tell it'd be great to play with. I think that's helped as well. When I spoke to him as well on the pod, he said that he's sort of been able to take a bit of ownership around the line outs and the pack and. I think that's probably brought himself out of himself as well. I think he's obviously been able to really push forward.
Carl: And we went to see, what was it? Bristol bath a couple of years ago, didn't we? Yeah, he wasn't in the team at the time, but that was just after the sort of the COVID season and where you guys were playing exceptional rugby. Everything was off, off a line out would be basically over the try line. And we went to the Bristol bath game, didn't we?
Carl: You guys couldn't make anything stick, you know, and there was a good year or so where that was pretty much your, probably your weakness. It went from your strength to your weakness at Bristol. And then [00:13:00] Joe's obviously managed to sort of turn the ship alongside everyone else as well. I think they've really been able to put the graft back in that you guys built a lot of of a platform around and 
Buster: a fair play to Pat.
Buster: He's sort of stuck with his plan and the in, , in the sense that it wasn't working and he didn't sort of, , down tools and try something different. He, , he stuck to what he knows and, , stuck to how he wants to play and seems to be, , starting, , Pick up again, doesn't it? Everything's starting to stick.
Buster: Got, , some big boys putting their, you know, putting their hands up every week and turning up every week. I think worth mentioning, absolute signing of the season last year, Van Rensburg. He's been the, he's probably been the, I think the turning point in the team in terms of, , go forward. He's just mustered, isn't he?
Adam: Yeah. Rating so highly. But yeah, for me, like the turning point seemed to be last season. The I mean, we had tickets Buster and we'd go watch Bristol vs Bath at the gate. [00:14:00] And I mean, I think you and I beforehand we're just hoping it was going to be a respectable score line. We weren't going to get beat by.
Adam: It wasn't going to be a cricket score. And that seemed to be the turning point. There was an interview with Pat saying about, you know, playing the Bears way and it's stuck and they had a Relatively, we took our boys off 
Buster: as 
Carl: well, 
Buster: didn't we? At did s Yeah. And , Barry Jackal was there. Yeah. Hundred game. I lost my voice.
Buster: Hundred hundred. Was it 101 point game? Something like that? Yeah. 
Carl: Something crazy. We're absolutely spoiled, weren't me. , I think I'm embarrassed. Both my boys would be jumping up and down and, but Brilliant day out. They loved it. Good to get the boys to along to games like that, isn't it? Did you, , manage to fan girl with any other, any players?
Carl: Adam? You know, I don't think we met any that day, so I managed to, I managed to, , maintain my ticket. He's been quite good 
Buster: of it, yeah. 
Adam: No, no, , obviously I text him before every game to wish him luck and, you know, he, he does the [00:15:00] same for me, for my odd turnout for the Vets, so. But no, I know what you're referring to, the, , Callum Sheedy incident, aren't you?
Adam: Yeah. Yeah, what a Twickenham. Yeah. Yeah, you remember when I coolly strolled up to him and said, uh, excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be Callum Sheedy, would you? After I pointed it out that he's not Callum 
Buster: Sheedy. 
Carl: And turned 
Buster: into a 12 year old girl for 
Carl: a 
Buster: moment. 
Carl: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Not my proudest moment.
Carl: Was that the day that you brought your bag for life as well today? I was about to mention that. I was going to say I wasn't exactly painting myself in glory that day, was I? But it was practical usage, beers on the train. And then we actually needed a bag afterwards. I know and I'd already binned it. You'd already binned it in shame.
Carl: I was so embarrassed, yeah, yeah. I wish I had a carry bag right about now. So obviously the, the, the pod, you guys have been following it from the start. And obviously when I had the idea, sort of dropped the message to you guys. And [00:16:00] what's, , what's your opinion of how it's sort of grown and where, where can you see obviously you guys getting involved and where we can sort of take this pod as well, because I think there's been some really good responses and I think we, there's being able to get out to the grassroots rugby stuff was a really good aspect in the summer.
Carl: And I think being able to keep. Keep going like that will really help grassroots rugby as well. 
Buster: Yeah, I love it, mate. I think you're doing a great job. , I know obviously , you've done a lot of stuff out in Spain and, , speaking to like the European guys and the Argies and stuff like that. And I am in terms of.
Buster: In, the UK and in England, me and ad getting out and about and go and do some grassroots stuff. I think, I think it's important to try and, you know, give the grassroots teams some, , a little bit of a voice, you know, even just from conversing with the guys that we've set up for the next few, , episodes, it seems like everyone's got like a, a bit of a message they're trying to get out there, but [00:17:00] seems to be a little bit unheard.
Buster: And there's, , I don't think in terms of say rugby against football, there's nowhere near as many platforms for the rugby teams to, , get their message across. And I also think like, you know, speaking to the, , try services guys the other day, I mean, just like common message around who's able to get involved and things like that, you know, people overlook it just because they think that you have to be, , Service personnel to get involved in, you know, they try and push these messages out there, but I don't think they really get heard.
Buster: Do they? There's not a massive platform to, , show what goes on and let's see the behind the scenes stuff in the clubhouse. And, you know, it's more of a community game in rugby. It's not necessarily just, , turn up do your 60 minutes or however long you get to play and go home. It's, You know, meeting up beforehand, getting to know, getting to know the lads going out for beers afterwards and making new friends [00:18:00] and you know, one club ain't 15 guys, is it?
Buster: One club's usually 30, 40, 50 guys, so you're opening yourself up to a whole new community. Yeah. I think it's a good to get that out there. And, , I think, I think we'll see some surprising stuff, you know, I like to think that hopefully we can get a few more people involved and, , give the people, you know, some people that may be sitting on the edge with.
Buster: going and getting stuck into a team sport, maybe give them the confidence to actually go and do it. 
Carl: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the biggest. One of the biggest things is to try and make sure we get people back into rugby as well because there's so many that we lost after covid and probably people don't don't realize that a lot of these clubs are available.
Carl: And as you said, we one of them that we're speaking with his U. S. Pompey and they, , they've got the sort of the services. Badge over the top of them and a lot of people probably think that they can't go play for them because they're not in the services. So [00:19:00] yeah, it's trying to break those messages down as well.
Carl: And we're trying to obviously finding some clubs that have now managed to find a home as well, which will, , will help massively getting, getting that, that message out. Cause I couldn't manage, imagine not being able to have a. Have a home as a rugby pitch in a rugby clubhouse that you can go to. And like, we've, we've got that problem out here in Spain, the club that I'm president of, we haven't actually got a proper ground.
Carl: We've got a couple of places that we can train and we've had to resort to basically merging with another team up the road to just give us a home ground for a few seasons while we try and resolve the rest of the issues. It's a, it's a big barrier breakdown and a lot of places aren't fussed by rugby.
Carl: And the home of rugby is where we want to try and push that out and make sure that these clubs get to see it. And it was the Adam, your Buster, your sort of located Pompey Wayne. Yeah. And then Adam, your sort of fan, , [00:20:00] Farnham Camberley now. Yeah. Yeah. I'm in a place called deep cut and, , it's just outside Camberley.
Carl: Yeah. But if I could, , highlight a point that we'll, we'll emphasize what Buster saying there about the game. , Barry the Jackal was down at the South Sea Nomads the other week where they're currently based at the RMA club. Yeah. And of course, you know, Not a lot of my family are into rugby. , but my grandparents are now they come into the clubhouse after the game.
Carl: Everyone's having a laugh. Everyone's having a beer and a few people. My granddad was there. We've said, How nice is this? How good is this? And he says, This is what it's about. You know, it's about the game, but it's also about this after the socialize and they're interacting the two teams coming together and having a beer and having a laugh.
Carl: And you know, this is, these are people, you know, who are big sporting fans, love football, love boxing, but don't know what rugby is about at it's core. And if we can shine a bit of a spotlight on that through this, then all the better [00:21:00] because we know how good this game is, don't we? And if we can share that with other people, then brilliant.
Carl: 100%. So we've obviously off the back of my , rally cry the other week, , on the grassroots rugby review. We've, , we've pretty much managed to secure a schedule up till Christmas now, aren't we, gents? So the 16th of November, Buster, it's your, you're going to be your first game you're going to.
Carl: Can you, , let us know who you're going to see and where we're going and what the, what the plan is. 
Buster: Yeah, so, , 16th from, , Gunsea. The nomads, South Sea nomads, . They're playing. Hold on. Limington 
Carl: mariners. 
Buster: Yeah. , yeah, so, , we've had a little chat from, and, , as we've already referred to, they, they're struggling there for a, sort of, a home grounds 
Buster: they've, , well, I think that's it now. I think that's now their home 
Carl: is finally the RMA. That's the only place they've actually managed to put their own posts up. But yeah, good. So they've secured it now. Yeah, it's all secured. [00:22:00] It's just a case of they haven't got like a ground. But if you go to Portsmouth and stuff like that and the surrounding areas, but that's as good as they're probably going to get for the for the foreseeable.
Carl: They've, , they've basically been borrowing pitches. I think one of the pitches was behind. No way. South sea fair was, 
Buster: you 
Carl: know, that bit that's been redeveloped. That was one of their grounds. I think they had another one somewhere. They'd literally had nowhere. It was changing sort of every season for a little while.
Carl: It was a bit of a mess. So the RMA is probably the. the closest that they're going to get to a proper ground in in South Sea and obviously puts money back in the RMA club as well afterwards. So I think it could be a marriage made in heaven for a little while. 
Buster: That could be good mate. They've got, they've got quite a rich history as well, weren't they?
Buster: The nomads. So, , Be keen to learn a little bit about that. Share a little bit of information. , try and get some sort of, , days and dates for join ups and get the word spread amongst sort of Portsmouth and Southsea and the surrounding [00:23:00] areas. , just looking forward to get stuck in really. I haven't, , done anything like this before.
Buster: So, I'm sure, I'm sure it'll be a little bit rusty, but. I think it should be, , well received. So, yeah, looking forward to it. Yeah, they're bang 
Carl: up for it. And it's, , it's a county's four game as well in Hampshire. So we're, we're probably literally going nearly as low as the social league. So I don't think there's much lower that we can probably go in the league format, which.
Buster: Yeah, I mean, anyone looking to start or join that would be perfect, wouldn't it? You know, start if you if you're talking about being worried about, you know, not being like majorly competitive in terms of skill level and pace and, you know, things like that. It might be, uh, might be a nice starting point for people, not to say they haven't got a load of skill and pacing amongst their team, 
Carl: the after Adams, the 23rd of November, you have another, [00:24:00] and I think it's another county's four game lined up, don't 
Adam: we? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 23rd down, , Hook and Odiham vs. Gosport 2s. , not too far down the road from me. Looking forward to getting down there, meeting all the lads, having a chat, finding out how the season's going and what they expect for the remainder.
Carl: Yeah, but, , I've not actually had the chance to play at Hook or Odiham. , so I'm not sure what their ground's like, how that's set up as well. So that'd be quite interesting and, , always, always good to get Gosport back on the pod. Gotta love, uh, sharing the message around that. Um, hopefully get, obviously get, get a good chat with Kieran McRoberts down there.
Carl: He's, uh, he's coached down for Gosport twos and yeah, it's a hook and Odiham Adams. Obviously that's not what, half hour down the road from you is, is that a club that you've ever sort of come across? Buster, I've, I've never sort of played them or had much around them. So it'd be really interesting to see where they're at and what they've, what the history around the club is.
Adam: Yeah, [00:25:00] absolutely. No, it's not one that's that's , ever been on my , radar. So I think that's one of the good things about this is it's been able to go and learn more about these clubs in the local area that you are probably driven past God knows how many times and and not realize that there's there's a rugby club there.
Carl: Yeah, yeah. Because the thing is, they're two separate towns as well. So I don't know where, , where the ground will be. I'm assuming it will be in hook. because Odiham is basically an RAF base, isn't it? So unless they get to play on there, unless they've got a nice little ground there, we need to obviously shine a light on where that is so that we can let more people in that area sort of get involved in that, in that club.
Adam: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. No, really looking forward to that one. Then, , then on the 30th it's Farnham versus Totts. Which as I'm, as I understand, it would be a top of the table 
Carl: clash. Yeah. So literally going back up to a sort of regional, regional two, , obviously the same league as Peaksfield and Newbury that we've obviously [00:26:00] been to in the, in the summer as well.
Carl: So Farnham's literally on your doorstep mate as well. , do the boys, the boys playing for Farnham or is it Camberley? Which, where did they end up in the end? 
Adam: Camberley. , so yeah, so we took him down there, , for a couple of months. It, it, it kind of died a bit of a, bit of a depth. , but Eddie, my, my youngest is keen as mustard to get down there and have another crack at it.
Adam: I think Arnie's keen to try something else. , bless him. He'd give it a good go. , but yeah, , so yeah, no, Eddie would like to get back down. And it is a great club. , A lot of participation throughout various age groups, , you know, proper clubhouse, , you know, bake and roll. And a coffee on a Sunday morning would never go amiss while I'm stood there on the sidelines.
Adam: That's it. Because , 
Carl: Cambly obviously regional one. , so hopefully we can get them lined up at some point in the, in the future because they've got big aspirations, obviously targeting league, , Nat, Nat two and stuff like that. But I think they've not had the easiest [00:27:00] start to the season so far. They've, , they've obviously been the same league as sort of Jersey in.
Carl: the likes. So, yeah, it'd be, , obviously if you hopefully can add them to the list and yeah, I'm sure everyone can hear Buster's dog chatting to us in the background. 
Buster: Sorry, I've got a French Bulldog and all he does is snore all day. 
Carl: Matt is snoring in. Sounds like me. So, yeah, Farnham Tots will be a really good one.
Carl: Just just putting the final final touches to that as well. So, yeah, that should be a really, really good one. Tots have obviously sort of flown off in that league. Farnham are putting a real flag in the ground as well. And we spoke to Mark, the chairman over there briefly. And we've, we've got, , we've got a little group chat with the coaches as well.
Carl: So, It'd be really good to see what Farnham have got. I know that in a couple of years time they've got the , the, the Nags Charity Barbarians are going there as well to do their uh, their one which is from People Remember episode. Who's that? 
Buster: The [00:28:00] 
Carl: Nags, Nags Charity Barbarians. So I think it was episode four or five of the pod.
Carl: So, yeah, it'd be really interesting. And then we've got a bit of a, we've got a break week on the seventh, and then both of you lads are gonna go together on the, the 14th of December to, to US Pompey.
Carl: Yep. 
Buster: Yeah, so that's, , that's the day after my, , staff work do. And, , we obviously, we've, , had a little chat with the guys from, , United Services and it's actually their Christmas do on that day as well, so they've invited me and Ad to get a little bit stuck in with them. Yeah. Hopefully, , we can, , get the content you want and, , Keep Adam on the straight and narrow.
Carl: If not, get on the shant afterwards and just add it all together. Make one of them episodes. Yeah, well. 
Buster: Be like the hangover. Loose lips in the aftermath of the game. Make for a good viewing, won't it? 
Carl: Yeah. They've got Isle Of Wight coming over as well. So whether they're going to do it is a [00:29:00] run ashore as well.
Carl: Which will be quite interesting. Isle of Wight coming over to US Pompey will be another another good game to get around and share the message about US Pompey. It's a, it's a club in the middle of Pompey that a lot of people assume it's, it's basically uni players or services. So there's the doors open to anyone as well.
Carl: So. It'd be nice to shine a light on them as well, because I think a couple of seasons ago they had to literally fold for one season. They couldn't fill the team and stuff, so they had quite a few issues. So we want to try and shine that light and make sure that that doesn't ever happen again for them.
Buster: Yeah, they've got a good 
Carl: set up, 
Buster: haven't they? They've got HMS Temeraire. 
Carl: Great pitch. Great little clubhouse as well. Yeah, they've got a really good pitch. Really good set up there. And, but yeah, I think they had recruitment issues and , yeah, it's the last thing we want to see is clubs ever having to resort to that.
Carl: I think [00:30:00] uh, Farnborough had to do it a couple of seasons ago. So, 
Buster: I mean, in reality, this is quite literally one of the driving, driving forces of this pod, isn't it? To try and stop this happening. So, you know, people, we can get involved and interested in playing the better.
Carl: And then into the new year, we're still trying to finalize where we're going. , I know Guernsey, Guernsey ones and twos have got a game on the 14th of January. So whether that's a run ashore that can be finalized. , one of the episodes after this, we've got Jack Colborne come on. He plays for Guernsey.
Carl: And, , he's, he's sort of extended the invite for us to, to go and join them over there. I was having a look at flights the other day. I'd have to fly back to scum and then fly over to, to Guernsey. So it's whether. I'll do my best to join you mate. I 
Buster: am, I'm, , trying to work it around, obviously my job as well.
Buster: So I'll, , do my, I'll do my best to get involved in that. That sounds like a great little trip away. I think there's a double header as well, isn't it? 
Carl: [00:31:00] It's the double header. So Guernsey ones or Guernsey Raiders are playing Havant in the NAT two. And, , Gosport ones are playing Guernsey twos. So yeah, be a, be a really good runner. Sure. Obviously, as I said, Jack Colborne come on the other day and he, already speaking to some of the lads over there.
Carl: So if I can't make it back, we hopefully one of us or two of us, or maybe even three of us can, Can make the, make the trip over there. Cause that'd be really interesting. One, obviously potentially a shant afterwards as well. Could be, , could be well warranted. , 
Adam: yeah, I am. I caught the home leg of that, that game a few weeks back.
Adam: Really good. physical game. , and Guernsey come away with the bragging rights. So I'll be interested to see if having to get over there and, you know, get their revenge. 
Carl: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So Guernsey got big aspirations this season. Big, big flag in the ground. Got Jack on in a couple of weeks time as and he's , he said they've got a big, big [00:32:00] expectation on themselves.
Carl: So no, it'd be really good game. Good, decent doubleheader as well for four great teams going at it will be, , A really good one to hopefully get, get to as well. So, , Adam, you've also got one potentially lined up for, for what you used to be over in Bristol, Bristol way. So we've hopefully got them in the new year as well.
Carl: Do you want to sort of enlighten everyone? 
Adam: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So I've been, so I used to live in a little town in Bristol called Thornbury. , and Thornbury Rugby Club is quite a big part of the community. , A lot of people, you know, my friends either play for him or knew someone who played for them.
Adam: And yeah, so I've been in contact with my mate Craig, who, , who, who turns out for them week in week out. , he's, he's boy plays for them and yeah, it'd be really good to get down there. , you know, it's a, it's a club with quite a rich history. They've even had some, , England internationals, , come through there and even the polar brothers used to play for them.
Adam: back in the day. So yeah, it'd be good to get down there, find out a little bit more about the club. [00:33:00] Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of playing for them. Although Craig has asked me a couple of times to dust my boots off and, , come down for a game. Go down for the interview and get dragged in. I happened 
Carl: to be, when I went to Millbrook, for the Flaming Unicorn.
Carl: So you never, you never know, Adam. Keep the boots in the van and you, , you might be rock and roll. 
Adam: Absolutely. Yeah, I'll be, , 
Buster: Scrap your ankle up. 
Adam: Yeah, absolutely. I don't know if anyone's ever done an interview during a game before, but this could be groundbreaking, couldn't it? Wow, I can barely talk, let alone ask, yeah, start asking people questions as the game's going on.
Adam: But yeah, no, yeah, really keen to get down to that one. And, you know, meet some of the lads down there, find out what's going on at the club and, , you know, what their aspirations are for the season and possibly even get a game itself, maybe. 
Carl: Because, , Buster, you originally sort of hailed from Eastbourne way as well.
Carl: So that is that one that you're potentially hoping for in the, in the new year? Yeah, I've got 
Buster: some feelings out trying to, , trying to, I know. I know one, one lad who plays down there, Matt, and , I've asked him to put me in touch with their [00:34:00] director of rugby and I'm just waiting for a message back on that.
Buster: , yeah, so that'd be cool. I mean, yes, I am from Eastbourne area, but I also grew up in West Sussex up in East Gwinstead. , could put some feelers out up there as well. Yeah, it'd be a good one to understand how 
Carl: they've changed as well. They, , they got on the, a meteoric rise and then obviously the, the old owner left after a few discussions and started unbolting doors and taking seats and stuff like that East Grinstead.
Carl: So they, , they, they went up through the, through the leagues and yeah, I had a big falling out between the board, I think. And I think they had a big, big chunk of money thrown at them. Didn't they? Yeah. That money got withdrawn by the geezer that started taking the doors off and the seats and. It'd be quite interesting to see how they've recovered and come back out the other side as well because it's not the first club and probably not the last club that's going to happen to so that'd be really interesting to see how [00:35:00] that's, 
Carl: , turned around for them as well and where, where they're at.
Carl: So, yeah, 
Carl: , any other guys, any other teams you've sort of got your eye on that you guys fancy in or? 
Buster: , I'm going to look at the , the Royal Navy guys. So obviously the tri services play out of HMS Temeraire. The Royal Navy guys play. I think they, , they play down in Plymouth and they play in Portsmouth.
Carl: We had Tom Blackburn on, who's the DOR of Navy Rugby, so I'm sure we Oh, brilliant. 
Buster: Yeah. We'll, we'll speak to him and maybe get a gap, get down to a game when they're playing, either at home or 
Carl: Yeah, 
Buster: away.
Buster: I, , I watched one of the games last year. I watched, , Navy versus British Police. Quality standard of rugby. It was, , it was pre, it was pre army, Navy at Twickenham. So it was a tune up game and, , very, very physical, some great players. And, , yeah, just some mustard tries actually, as well as some proper rugby, you know, , they've got a good set up as well.
Buster: So I'd like to get stuck into that a little [00:36:00] bit, but. Yeah, I'm keen to, I'm keen to get about mate, I obviously, the next few we've got lined up are down on the south coast, , trying to get, you know, used to how it's going to run and get it firing on all cylinders and then I'd be keen to sort of take it and head off in different directions wherever you need us really.
Buster: Nice. 
Adam: Yeah. I think for me, Carl, it'd be good to, , get down to some of the women's games. , and, and I think you said there was, , Havant, women's are quite keen 
Carl: Yeah. 
Adam: , to have a chat. So really would quite like to get down to one of the, one of the women's games, , on a Sunday and, , 
Buster: have a chat. Am I right?
Buster: I believing Barry the jackal's quite a big advocate for the women's game as well. He is, yeah. Absolutely 
Adam: loves his red roses. , he, he doesn't miss a game. , how good. He's red roses. Oh, they're quality. Yeah. They are quality.
Adam: Yeah. They're, they're a joy to watch, aren't they? And , it is so good to see, , just how, how they've come on and, you know, the kind of. Crowds they're drawing now [00:37:00] and, you know, especially in the build up to the World Cup next year. Some questions got 
Carl: asked of them from Canada the other week. So maybe Maybe not.
Carl: Everything's quite ticking at the minute and, but hope, thankfully it's probably happened now that little wake up call before the world cup, rather than getting caught out at the world cup because they did. And then, yeah, nearly got caught out by Canada. So Canada managed to put a real shift on them. So the last thing we're on to do is do what the men's did in 2017 and completely blow up a 
Buster: home world cup.
Buster: So. Yeah, 
All: I was about to say that. I'd be interested to 
Buster: see, , how their success is trickling down into the women's game and, , if they've seen, like, a big uptake in, , you know, participants since the sort of, like, the last few years it's become a little bit more mainstream, hasn't it? There's a lot more TV coverage of the Red Roses and, yeah, they're hitting sort of, , terrestrial TV channels and things, which are making it a lot easier for people to access.
Buster: Previous, previous guests on the 
Carl: pod [00:38:00] obviously been part of part of the women's game and real big advocates have all sort of said there's been a real upturn. , I think Havant women's have got 55, 60 turning up to training on a Tuesday night at the minute. So that's unreal. That's, that's really unheard of.
Carl: There's a few Millbrook we went to the other week. I think they've got 45 on the books now, something like that. So, and they've only just sort of formed. So yeah, it's a reading. Really good turn. I think this is the year that it probably booms again. If, if we can get a home success in the world cup at home as well, same as what happened in 2003.
Carl: I think that's the difference as well. The men's game hasn't had that success for on that, that level since 2003 and that. That hype has sort of drifted off a little bit. I think if we get another World Cup under our belt, do we, do you think, , do you think the media 
Buster: coverage has had a big effect on that car with, in terms of like, if you want to watch rugby nowadays, you need [00:39:00] three or four different subscriptions to watch sort of mainstream rugby.
Buster: I, 
Carl: I think it's completely lost everyone. Like I. I managed to watch as much as possible, but if you're playing or part of coaching or you're part of the game, most of the time you're at a game or playing a game when the other games are on. So I was speaking to someone, they've gone to Toulouse, Toulouse this weekend.
Carl: I think it was on the, , yesterday, so the 28th or 27th. , and it was planned for the Saturday, but there was a major game in the, in the region. So they moved it to a eight o'clock kickoff on a Sunday so that people could still make sure they went to the top 14 game and then also managed to partake in local rugby.
Carl: So I think that the English games, I think it's hard for the English game 'cause there is so many leagues and teams to to move. He can't move up to a Sunday 'cause. [00:40:00] Availability is going to be shit. But do you play in the morning? Do you do what the sun of the Saturday dockyard football leagues and stuff like that?
Carl: Do you do a Saturday, Saturday morning so that lads could still get back and go and watch up the Fratton Park or up to go and watch a game? It's a hard one, but I think there's so many traditions in rugby that we get stuck in that bubble. And then I had a message through the other day from Rugby Europe, , dot, , the dot TV, the website, they're on about now moving that from free to potentially a paid platform as well.
Carl: So you basically then potentially lose all of the coverage of The tier two, tier three developing nations in Europe for 
Adam: them 
Carl: to make it as a paid platform. And to be honest, they probably don't get major turnout as it is on, on a free platform. So putting a premium over the top, is that going to really completely [00:41:00] turn people off?
Carl: I don't 
Adam: know. Well this, this is it. It's made it so much more difficult for the non rugby fan to stumble across it now. If everything's behind a paywall, if everything needs a subscription, you're not going to be flicking through the channels and see it. Nah, I mean, 
Buster: you really have to love, love rugby to sort of pay some of these subscriptions, especially sort of 90, 100, 90, 100 quid 
Carl: a month, I think it is, 90 to 100 quid a month now to, to watch every, every platform and, 
Buster: And then, like, even the major, even the major platforms, they've got, they've got games they miss, so they get put back to, like, PR TV and, You know, you've either got to pay a one off on that, or you've got to pay a monthly subscription on that, and then, All your other sort of like information platforms, rugby pass and things like that.
Carl: Well, the 
Buster: Autumn 
Carl: internationals have been put on to, it's not on Amazon now, is it? It's on, it's on [00:42:00] discovery and. Yeah, I think Discovery is linked to BT Sports, isn't it? Something like that. So, yeah, they've, they've changed it. It's not consistent. Like, you can't just, which I get, they've got to pay for the rights, they've got to pay for all those sort of stuff.
Carl: So, I 100 percent understand that. But, putting Autumn Internationals up for tender and this and that, I bet they'll only cover the certain games as well. You won't be able to, like, Spain are playing Fiji on the 16th. I'm going to the game, but you probably won't be able to find it. It won't be on any of the other platforms.
Carl: And that could be what a game that could be and Spain are playing Uruguay in Madrid, but it's not one of the main stadiums. So 100 percent guarantee that won't be on a platform for anyone to, for you guys to watch back in the UK or anything like that. But we saw how exciting Uruguay were in the World Cup.
Carl: They get to play a very exciting team in Spain [00:43:00] and we don't get to see it. Then we've got Spain, Fiji, Fiji, everyone loves watching Fiji. That probably won't get put on. And then you've got Spain, USA as well, which is going to be another great, great game in Madrid, but that's probably not going to be accessible without having to go through many hoops.
Carl: I think Portugal also missed the gap as well. So Portugal got USA the, I think it's this weekend or next weekend. And they didn't confirm until mid last week where the game was actually going to be played at or at what time. So no tickets were up for sale. Nobody knew where it was. And Portugal missed out on probably loads of people taking that opportunity to go watch Portugal USA.
Adam: Yeah, I mean, they still would have possibly had a bit of buzz around them after their World Cup performance. 
Carl: 100%. There's some heavy hitters in both of them teams as well, isn't there? Quality, quality game against [00:44:00] two great sides that want to really probably put, put themselves back in the shop window again for the next World Cup.
Carl: And you miss an opportunity of getting that on a, on a platform. It's just rugby. It's just poor effort a lot of the time. And it's, it's really, as you said, Buster, you've hit the nail on the head. You've really got to love the game just to tolerate the bullshit that you've got to deal with just to find a game you want to watch.
Carl: You can't stumble across it on Channel 4 or More 4 Plus 1 or all that sort of bullshit channels that if they were on, people get stuck on them. And then next thing you know, they're gone. One of the kids might walk in and wind up saying, what's this? And then it's another person we might get into the game, but yeah, a lot of work's got to be done around pushing it and selling the naming rights of Twickenham's not going to change that.
Adam: No, no. I think it was it, was it Darragh you had on the other week, Carl? Yeah. He. Yeah, he made a really good point when he said increasing revenue. [00:45:00] Yeah, it is going to come from interest, not just, you know, not just hiking prices. No, um, you know, it's, uh, it's, there's got to be a better way. 
Carl: I think a lot of it's they're just brought in accountants and , economists to make sure that the balance sheet looks right rather than finding the root cause and the, and the resolution.
Buster: Yeah, that doesn't that doesn't project very well forward. So does it? When there's gonna be a need to be an uptake in sort of number of people going forward. Otherwise, if it's not going up, it's gonna go down, isn't it? So yeah, 
Carl: but every club that we seem to speak to at the minute has got a really high uptake of Sort of the, the mini youth teams at the minute, which is really, really good to see.
Carl: Yeah. It's just how long can you keep them interested for? And Darragh, as you said, was on the other week, [00:46:00] Adam, and you actually, I was speaking to him about that and he was like, he said he'd gone down to the mini and juniors and stuff. And you actually ask him about the rules of rugby that none of them have got a clue because they don't watch the game.
Carl: They're down there just to be involved and there's not, And then, uh, I had Jack Colborne's come on in a couple of weeks time with them, the interview with him the other day. And he said he went to New Zealand for five years. He said that kids at three, four, five years old, a spilling passes the 20, 30 yards and then when they get to eight or nine, that's when they started playing a problem, but they can already pass 20, 30 yards at the age of four or five, whereas we're just teaching kids to catch.
Carl: At that point. And if they can figure out how to pass it backwards, it's like that's, they're getting an England contract. It's, it's like, yeah, 
Adam: to, to your point about New Zealand, me, , father in law is a Kiwi and, you know, , spent the first part [00:47:00] of his, , his life out there, of course. And, , yeah, you're basically born with a rugby ball in your hands, you know, that's all they did as, as kids outside school.
Adam: Um, they'd be running around bare feet, playing rugby. Yeah. regale me with the stories of what it was like over there playing. And yeah, and you know, if you asked, you know, in his words, if you asked any young lads, , at the time, you know, this was probably back in the sixties, what you want to do when you grow up or want to be, want to play for the All Blacks.
Adam: Yeah, you know, 
Carl: oh, yes, the thing is, the games, no, like football is, is the game here and in Spain and in New Zealand, it's not so their version of footy is, is NRL and all of that sort of stuff. So they've got the captured audience, whereas we're fighting, we're probably in England, well, Christ and in Spain, probably rugby's third or fourth choice game now.
Adam: Yeah. Yeah, probably sits behind cricket [00:48:00] and 
Carl: cricket. Football's obviously top. You've got cricket. You've probably even got some people boxing F1. Yes, there's other stuff that people are probably more interested in than, 
Adam: but, but look, look how, look how much some of those games have come on in the last. 20 years, you know, like darts, you know, and, and cricket, how much more participation there is in that.
Adam: And, you know, all the excitement around the 100 and, you know, the T20, the darts, you know, the, is it, , I think it was Barry Hearn, wasn't it? It's, it's turned it around. Look, look at the, look how many people go to watch that darts. You got the 
Carl: Premier, you got the Premier League. So it goes around the country and stuff like that.
Carl: And I think the, gap in the Premiership in, rugby doesn't help including people across the UK. Yeah. , you guys too, too widely spread. There's too many gaps, but we've obviously discussed this many times and there's probably many more times that we can chunder over it while, , while this pod ticks along.
Carl: One other thing that we want to probably run [00:49:00] through lads is. One of our other sort of side enjoyments to the game is our fantasy league. tie ups. I haven't seen one for the autumn internationals yet. So I don't know if we've got one. I haven't seen a sort of a fantasy one for that yet, but I 
Buster: haven't seen one yet.
Carl: So six nations is usually our flagship. , we have good fun. There was a good time. There was a period of time which I'd run away with it and then they changed the rules and I can't figure it out. So, , yeah, Lost two, two on the bounce. So one that we want to really try and get other people involved in, in the new year.
Carl: So I think, , the Six Nations starts the end of January. So maybe sort of mid jam, we're going to jump back on and do, , A sort of a fantasy league special to invite, invite the followers to join the league and create a bit of interaction there. But that I think will, I think kids, the more kids that get involved in Football [00:50:00] Fantasy League and they understand the players, they understand the game.
Carl: Do you think that is another way of sort of breaking down the barrier? Like even sticker books, like how many, how many sticker books did you have as a kid? Yeah, 
Adam: yeah, 
Carl: absolutely. I'd like, you could never find one for rugby now. Like it's not, it's not a done thing. Like the marketing in that side, like people swapping stickers, not, it might not.
Carl: It's got to start somewhere. Somewhere it's got to start to try and create a brand for players as well as. I 
Buster: think, I think some of the individual clubs, some of the Premier League teams, they do that sort of stuff from like their, , from their, , stores at the stadiums. So, individual players for the team and things like that, but like you say, getting people interested is going to be bigger than just, you know, following the local team, isn't it?
Buster: So, 
Adam: yeah, absolutely. I mean, we haven't had any real big household names, you know, in the game of English rugby for some time. I think, you know, go back [00:51:00] 20 years ago, everyone knew Johnny Wilkinson was, didn't they? But, you know, only because we won, only because we won the World 
Carl: Cup. 
Adam: Absolutely. Well, yeah, yeah.
Adam: You know, success would breed interest, but 
Buster: yeah, it's, , Can you see us winning another World Cup soon?
Adam: No. It's a deadly silence. Don't feel like it at the moment, does it? , 
Carl: I think we got as far as we've probably further than we physically should have done in the last World Cup. I think the draw went in our favor. I don't think we played exciting rugby. We played no rugby at all, nine times out of 10. But we could only play what's in front of us and we got the results when we needed them.
Carl: But as soon as we come up against South Africa, that was that was that there I can't see past them unless there's a serious injury crisis. Some serious issues there, [00:52:00] I think. The All Blacks are in full rebuild modes. Australia are probably worse than Wales. Wales are probably worse than Tonga and stuff like that.
Carl: There's so many teams in a rebuild mode, I can't see anyone but South Africa winning the next World Cup at the 
Buster: moment. Well, a lot of the South Africans are aging out though, aren't they? A lot of their big players are going to be aging out by the next World Cup, so it'll come down 
Carl: to injuries and things like that.
Carl: One more World Cup and then they're completely accurate, don't they? So, after that, that's, that's I think that's somebody else's problem. I don't think he would stay around after the next World Cup. If he wins another one, I think I don't think Ireland 
Buster: and France will get a better opportunity than what they have.
Carl: No, no, 
Buster: no. They will both fire on all cylinders, won't they? Yeah. , France, France, France, especially 
Carl: France will blow up themselves. They're their own, their own worst enemy. They do. They do what the French do every time and they get to a point that they should and [00:53:00] then somebody goes and. Kung Fu kick somebody else in the throat or something stupid like that.
Carl: They, they can't ever see a game out without making sure they f k it up for himself.
Buster: Well, this is why we love it, boys. 
Adam: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But now I'm hoping England will at some point so I can open my bottle of whiskey I've got in the cupboard that I bought. during COVID to open the next time England lifted the Webb Ellis. But at the moment it feels like I'm going to be passing it down to my sons.
Carl: Well, actually, I'm incorrect there. Yes, I can see England winning a World Cup in the near future, but it's going to be the Red Roses. Yeah. Yeah, fair point. So, yeah, no, we've, yeah, that's probably our closest opportunity to making sure. So does that still work? We've got a caveat on that bottle of whiskey ad.
Carl: Does that still count as you can open the bottle of whiskey with the red roses or has he got to go for the, for the men's one? 
Adam: Well, I had said, I had said the men's, but I guess I'll have to reevaluate at the state of the men's game at the time and go, do you know what, if I ever want to try a drop of this [00:54:00] whiskey, I'm going to have to, , you know, I'm going to have to put my, my back in on the red roses, but yeah, no, I, I think, , in, to answer your earlier question, it doesn't feel like the England men are going to, , Do it anytime soon, especially with the turnover with the coaching staff there at the minute.
Adam: Did start to feel like we're turning a bit of a corner, didn't it? , Felix Jones, , managed to beat Ireland, , Twickenham and the Six Nations, put in a relatively decent performance, started playing a bit more expansively. Faye Woboso scoring a great try over in New Zealand. Then you come back and find out.
Adam: Another coaches is going and you, you start scratching your head and go, what is going on behind closed doors there? , and yeah, it just doesn't doesn't bode well for, you know, the future of the minute, does it? 
Carl: So obviously this pod is going to go out on the 8th of November. We've done this a little bit early just due to scheduling.
Carl: How do you see the autumn internationals going? And obviously the New Zealand game is going to be on the second. So by the time this pod's out, [00:55:00] that will, we'll be able to see whether our predictions are true or not. 
Buster: , I'd love to see us go strong, to be honest. I think, , we have the potential to. Boys seem to be, the England boys seem to be spending, you know, quite a good amount of time together.
Buster: I think they're having a quite good camp, quite a long camp before these international games. Yeah, they've all had sort of sick, , what's it? Four weeks of the premise season as a warmup. I think it's good selection of good selection of games as well. Obviously we've got New Zealand was this Saturday coming.
Buster: Isn't it got the all blacks on the seconds. 
Carl: Yeah. Then we got Australia on the, on the ninth within got South Africa on the 16th and then we finish up with Japan on the 24th on the Sunday. 
Buster: I'll be at the Japan game. I'm looking forward to that. See if we can, , see if we can put up, put out a full, full strength team by the fourth international England has a bit of a [00:56:00] habit for, , injuring boys done it, but that's the nature of the beast for test rugby, I suppose, international rugby.
Carl: We shouldn't be settling for anything less than two wins, at least. I think three wins. Do you think we beat the All Blacks? Because I don't see us beating South Africa. 
Buster: Well, the All Blacks have had a checkered last few games, haven't they? I forget the name of the tournament. They've just been in with the championship championship.
Buster: , I think they got turned over a few times, didn't they? Yeah, I suppose if you look at 
Adam: the spring box and Argentina who are no marks, are we going to be up to? Are we going to be up to muster to be able to turn them over? So, we've 
Carl: got the Aussies. Aussies is the second game. So, we should do them. Then we got South [00:57:00] Africa.
Carl: So, I think that's going to be the hardest test out of all of them. 
Buster: Yeah, but not unwinnable. I think potentially if they front up and get the first two games good and they start playing some . 
Carl: I think it's the strength. I think it's the strength in depth. I think it's the strength in depth is that is what overcomes with South Africa at the minute.
Carl: I think. They could probably have three, three 15s teams that could win the World Cup. I think they've got that, they're that strong. I think they've got three, three teams that could probably win a World Cup. 
Buster: Well, let me ask you this then. So if we beat, if we beat South Africa in the All Nationals and, uh, we beat them again before the next World Cup, it would, it would stand to reason that we could beat them in a World Cup again.
Buster: But do you think we would? Oh, it's coming up. On the line. 
Adam: It's coming on. No, I'm joking. [00:58:00] They just seem to be able to pull it out of the bag when it matters, don't they? When it matters 
Buster: is what I mean, you know, when there's something riding on it, they just seem to be, just seem to have that next level, don't they?
Buster: There's a, 
Carl: there's a tournament, there's a difference between making, making it happen in a tournament and making it happen in like, I know what I mean. The national win like there's, and that's 
Buster: why Ireland, I mean, we're all thinking the same thing. If we turn them over every single time between now and swell car, I'd be going into a World Cup game thinking.
Buster: That doesn't give us any benefit over them whatsoever. I just psychologically, I just think the second something's on the line, they've got that extra gear that they can turn to. And I think that's, 
Carl: I think that's why Ireland and Wales have never sort of gone and finished it off. They can do it in one off occasions, but put them in a tournament situation.
Carl: They don't seem to be able to see anything out. Like, as you said, Ireland's best opportunity [00:59:00] was to get that well cut Last time around and everything was there going into it. Best team in the world, all of that sort of gubbins and look how it ended. So caught the final curse again, wouldn't it? Yeah, I just don't.
Carl: I think that there's a, there's, they are just tournament beasts. Simple as that. And it's the same with like, you look at like your Saris and stuff like that for years, they were absolute tournament beasts. They could go, they could randomly lose one game against Some really unexpected team, but you put them in a tournament situation and then yeah, they're a whole different kettle of fish is it's decided.
Carl: Like you look at round Madrid in the, in the football sphere as well, you put them in a champions league, they might not be having a great season, but they are, that is their tournament. And I think that, I think the South Africans are built the same in that way. And they just know what to do to get that over the line.
Carl: Yeah. 
Adam: Um, [01:00:00] then I think the, for the autumn internationals, Yeah, I think best case scenario for us could be three wins, so do not see us beating the Springboks, but New Zealand, we fronted up relatively well over there. Home advantage could happen, but it depends how much disruption there's been around the camp from more coaches leaving.
Adam: Obviously, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. All looks good on the surface of things, doesn't it? All the lads interacting. You're seeing it on the socials. They're off playing golf together. They're doing their team building stuff. Yeah, we're seeing some of those absolutely fantastic meals they're eating at the moment.
Adam: Um, but the, I mean, how good is that food? That chef 
Carl: is 
Adam: unreal, isn't he? He's 
Carl: decent. How good does that food look? Yeah. 
Adam: But credit to him. That's, that is good. That's positive. It's good to see these kind of things behind the scenes, what the players are getting up to. So, you know, obviously I think we've all had our criticisms of the RFU recently in our group chats, gents, but that's, that's good.
Adam: That's, you know, that's interesting [01:01:00] insight and makes me quite jealous. 
Buster: Be interesting to see if, , Smith has given the full reigns now. What do you reckon? I don't know who else we've put there. I think he's brought George Ford back into the team, hasn't he? By that, 
Adam: do you mean he's kind of given the keys and he's able to do what he does at Harlequin's a bit?
Adam: Yeah, 
Buster: hopefully he's allowed him to go for it a little bit more, you know? 
Adam: Play a bit more instinctively, rather than 
Carl: It wouldn't surprise me if they put him at 15. He done it the other week. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up at 15. He done it for Did it for Quins the other day, so they probably saw something in that and I still don't know why we're not playing Freddie Stewart in the centers.
Adam: Yeah. Yeah. 
Carl: Yeah. 
Buster: I view that. I like the idea of that. 
Adam: Who was it they put Smith against? , But fullback, was it against Fiji or something like that? Fiji, yeah. He just got absolutely, I mean, fair [01:02:00] play to him, you know, but he got a right pace. I watched that, I 
Buster: watched that Quinn, Quinn's game a couple of weeks ago when he played 15 and he had a mustard game.
Buster: He was brilliant. He's, he's, he is an exceptional 
Carl: player. It's just, it does, the whole setup does, we'd like, we've discussed this on numerous, numerous occasions. He needs a 12 that can protect him and he needs an 8 that can open the door as well. So when Dommers was on top form, that was brilliant. When he had, , who stays in at 12, it gave him that option and freedom.
Carl: And Danny Care just being able to get the ball out. You had Ben Youngs that was, Stephen Hawking was quicker getting it out of the fucking ruck than, , than, than Ben Youngs. And no, it's not, it's not suited to Marcus Smith, but it's suited to, you. to Farrell. Like, and we seem to be the biggest killer of nines.
Carl: Like, we had, we've had some exceptional nines coming through. [01:03:00] Raffy Quirk looked like he was going to set the world alight. , we had, it was the lad, Van, Van Portflet. Van Portflet, 
Adam: yeah. Look, he 
Carl: looked like he was going to set the world apart. And then we had Harry Randall and then we, like, they're all desolate.
Carl: . Like, we don't seem to have a solution at nine. But it's true though, isn't it? And then it will probably will I'm not having that with Randall 
Buster: mate. I'm sorry, but he's 
Carl: He's not, he can't kick. , I know he's a Bristol Bears boy, but , how many times have we discussed his box kicking his garbage?
Adam: He, I mean, , he's mustered for us, isn't he? But it's, you know, whether you can do it on the international stage, whether you can do it in a test match is a, it's a different animal. And, you know, I think that a lot of that comes down to the coaching, doesn't it? , You know, , that, the box kicking, as you say, is not his strength, but if he's playing on a team that encourages box kicking, 
Carl: which is what the English set up is designed at the minute, obviously we had, well, Alex Mitchell, he's got another serious injury, he's out as well, so, , I don't know, we just seem to, [01:04:00] like, Harry Randall for bears is brilliant, just his kicking shit, but you put him on an international stage and we don't play the way, there's so many ways that we don't, so many players that we don't play the right way for.
Carl: , I don't I it's just just my opinion that we seem to find a way of just making sure that we don't get the best out of players. 
Adam: Oh, yeah, totally agree. Absolutely. How many? How many players have we been excited about finally getting the call up after God knows how long of us going? I'll be good to see.
Adam: And then, yeah, it doesn't come to anything. 
Buster: I think that's, I think that's one of the biggest things that we discuss in it, you know, after tournaments and stuff. It's just the frustration of not being able to see these international boys do what they do in the Prem. And I know it's a different setting, I understand it's a different system, but I think looking at a lot of the social media comments and stuff as well, it seems to be quite a common theme that everyone has the same opinion when [01:05:00] boys are on top form for their clubs.
Buster: It seems to be like a, almost sometimes like an 18 month delay to make it to an international stage.
Carl: We had Dan Richmond on the other week and he's, He's, he's been part of that set up and he's a, he's a international level coach and he said that there is another step so like going up from one to another is a whole new sort of level. So the prem to international rugby is going to be massive. , but if, if, if there's, if players, you've got a raw talent and played in the right manner, there's no reason that they can't at least put themself in a bit of a shot window.
Carl: And I, I think that's the disappointing fact is they don't seem to even get a glimmer. But at the other end of the scale, Furbank, , is it Tommy Roberts? Yeah, all of these lads come in, their first few games weren't the best. Tommy, , was it Tommy Freeman as well? No. , they've all come in, they didn't look great, but now they've pretty much secured [01:06:00] themselves a spot and they've looked really good for England in the last run out.
Carl: So does it take that period of time, but how long do you give that before you start wondering how long the cycle is going to run for and why can't these other players get that opportunity? 
Buster: I'm buzzing to see some international rugby again, aren't you? Yeah, 
Carl: yeah. Does Ibotye get, get, should he, should he been part of the England squad?
Adam: Well, I mean, yeah, there's certainly a bit of, , talk surrounding that in life. I think it's a good argument for him, but at 
Buster: the same 
Adam: time, they've got a bit of an embarrassment of riches on the wing, haven't they? Yeah, that's the trouble. Who'd you replace him for? I mean, yeah, he's running in tries for fun in the prem.
Adam: , does 
Carl: he, does he get taken and given that exposure? Cause I think it's been a little while since, I think he sort of got really early exposure before he disappeared off to Israel and stuff like that, wherever he went, but is there, is there a sort of a discussion for him to be around the squad just to see if there's any.[01:07:00] 
Adam: Well, I've heard talk of them being called up for England 
Carl: day. Brilliant. But again, we're finally getting back to the England days and the lines or whatever, them being used. I think that's something that we've really missed for a long time. And that, that's potentially that bridge between being very good in the prep to international level.
Carl: Can you, can you compete at that? And then can we. And I'm really glad that that's sort of coming back. Is it the Saxons or the Lions? 
Adam: Yeah, it used to be called the Saxons, 
Carl: didn't it? I think they're just called England Day now. Right. Either way, I think that's a real positive and I think that's something that we've missed for a very long time.
Carl: That will give a lot of players the option to sort of put himself in the shot window as well. 100 percent. 
Adam: Yeah, absolutely. No, I think, I think it's a really positive thing. They can kind of get that call up. , you know, that keeps them interested in playing international rugby. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, I hope he gets the call up.
Adam: I mean, obviously I'm somewhat biased being a [01:08:00] Bristol supporter, but you know, he is, he, he's absolutely must at the moment. And really, you know, all as. English rugby supporters. We want to see that team do well. And the only way to do that is to call up the best players. You want to know the 
Buster: likes of like Caden Murley sitting in the wings.
Buster: And there's a few, just come back from injury, just come 
Carl: back 
Buster: from injury. 
Carl: So it'd be good to see Caden Murley get a hundred percent. It'd be really good to see him get sort of blooded in on that as well. Cause he's a, he's another 
Buster: England a game as well. Something like that. Yeah. , he's, , he's definitely known amongst 
Adam: it.
Adam: See lots of, , Henry Aal players like that, who, , I think there's something 
Carl: more fundamentally wrong there where he is gone to France. That's, there's a bigger situation there than, yeah. him being picked. I think there's a bigger, a bigger situation there that I don't think probably is going to come to light at any point.
Carl: , [01:09:00] lads gone in. What's your, what's your, what's your scores for the, for the New Zealand game ready for this one to come out? What do you reckon?
Buster: , I'm going to go England, batted boys, England by
Buster: England by six. I reckon 
Adam: Adam 30, 24. Right? 24. Really? Yeah. De despite me being a bit of a negative Nancy, I think I am gonna back the boys. Um, I, I, I'll follow my heart on this one. I think as you know what I'm, I'm gonna go low score and I think I'm gonna go 12 nine . 
Carl: Yeah. I had that. I had, I, I had that ringing around it, but I, I think I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go 17.
Carl: 12 England. I think we see a bit. I think we'll see some scores, but. [01:10:00] The interesting thing depends on the weather. I think the weather is obviously going to be a big factor in this as well. So I process me thinking it's either going to be up the jumper. I think there's going to be lots of potentially lots of kicks missed as well.
Carl: Depends on the weather as well, but should be a good one. , lads been an absolute pleasure getting you on. And obviously this is first of probably many pods that you guys will be able to jump on , in the future as well. , obviously we've got the. The rugby fantasy lined up for, for January as well.
Carl: So get you guys. I think we've got a couple of other special guests lines lined up to jump on and get everyone involved. But, , thanks for your time. Welcome to the, to rugby through the leagues. And we, , we push forward and carry on growing the pod and sharing the, sharing the love of the game. 
Adam: Great to jump on board.
Adam: I appreciate it. 
Carl: Yeah, 
Buster: no, I'm looking forward to it, mate. 
That brings another episode of Rugby Through The League's podcast to an end. , this week we had obviously Buster and Adam on. Two top, top great [01:11:00] blokes. Really love the game. Want to add more content to the pod. Add more value to what you guys are doing. able to, to get in the content as well. So 16th of November is going to be the first, first trip out for Buster to South Sea Nomads.
And then Adam's following that up with Hook and Odium on, , on the 23rd. So yeah, really good to go to Hampshire, four games to get underway. So Yeah, proper, proper grassroots rugby there and then jump back up to regional two for Farnham against Totts, so that's all buttoned away now as well. So it's really good and Then US Pompey against the Isle of Wight in December.
So If you guys want to be involved or want us on the pod I want the pod to come and visit you come and give us a shout because we'd love to really want to sort of carry on growing this and start creating a bit of a schedule through into next year and stuff like [01:12:00] that. So next year and then season after, cause we're potentially looking at adding more, more presenters and so we can cover more games.
So yeah, if, if If the want's there, we'll be able to supply it. So make sure you reach out if you want to get involved and then, yeah, who knows? You might get these ugly mugs turn up and ask you about your game. So next week got Jack Colborne on from, , Guernsey. Jack jumped on, , he's been around, been around the world, played originally New Milton, then went up to Hull to play Nat One, and then went over to, to New Zealand to play MPC Rugby, so only, only in his early 20s still, but Has had, , had a proper baptism of rugby fire by the sounds of it and a really top lad.
Hopefully we'll be able to get over to see him in the Guernsey, Guernsey game in the January as well that we discussed. So yeah, really good to get Jack on, really good value. , another one for [01:13:00] lads that want to know about having a punt and taking themselves abroad and going to watch or go and play abroad.
, really good value as well to listening to on that as well from another top rugby player. Okay. So, we're on the road to the final episode of Rugby Player Grassroots. Through and through. Reached out as well. Just said, Mate, if you want any content from us or Guernsey, let us know. And, yeah, managed to get him on.
Had a really good look at it for his rugby CV and it's, yeah, well worth a watch for people that want to step out of the box and go and try rugby abroad. So, watch him for that next week. And then, we've potentially only got one other episode left after that. So, yeah. Hopefully we'll see you a little bit more.
Episode 30 this week, episode 31 next week with Jack, and then potentially another interview, or we might do a, a season review wrap up, , for the pod, go through some special clips of best guests, et cetera. I dunno, I dunno how we're gonna finish the pod off, but gonna try and do what I can and, . For everyone else that's out there, just make sure you subscribe, follow, like [01:14:00] everything, keep growing the pod and then we can come back stronger next year as well.
Also, keep safe everyone out there as well, I know it's all a bit messy with lots of different things and, Natural disasters happening left right and center and all of these other bits and Yeah, it's , pretty pretty somber start and finish on this one sadly But yeah a few bits of bad news recently, which is not helps.
But yeah in other news Thank you and goodbye