Dumfries & Galloway Rugby Podcast

Annan RFC's Aitken Render is our first player guest of the year as he joins us to talk about following in his Dad's footsteps, coming through the ranks at Violetbank and the competitive nature of rugby here in the Southwest! Be sure to stick around for part 2 as well as we have some brilliant results and mouthwatering fixtures to bring you! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

New Year, New You? We are back for 2025 and welcome Unicorn Strength's Anne Halliday onto the podcast to talk us through what we can be doing to improve our fitness and nutrition this year! Whether you are looking to get back into gym/sport or you are keen to start something new for the very first time, Anne shares her top tips for getting fit in 2025! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

Wigtownshire's Niamh Wilson joins us on the podcast for the final episode of 2024 to talk about the season so far, beach rugby in Magaluf and her aspirations to play for the Glasgow Warriors! In part two, we have Community Spotlight (Stewartry), we hear from both Nic Lloyd and David Thomson on the recent D&G derby, results roundup, AORB and we even have a rant from our very own John Muir - jus...

In the penultimate episode before the Christmas break, John sits down with Dumfries Saints stars Abby Tait and Bryony McCaw to talk about the brilliant first season they've had at Park Farm! (P.S. - if you can hear a wee bit of rustling and background chat in the first few minutes of the interview with Abby & Bryony, please note that it is all coming from Ross Strawbrige so feel free to send h...

With two brilliant guests lined up for the coming weeks before the Christmas break, this is the last episode of 2024 to run through the important D&G rugby business! It's a packed episode with Community Spotlight, Players of the Month for November, Coaches Question, Results Roundup, Fixtures Preview, Game of the Week and AORB! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

Moffat Rams Youth Administrator Martin Armstrong is our special guest this week and he sits down to talk about his life as a primary school head teacher, the battle between rugby union & rugby league and the great work going on at Moffat to introduce rugby to the younger generation! Community Spotlight this week = Dumfries Saints (this time it is I promise!) https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

Stewartry Sirens' head coach John Dawson sits down with us this week to talk about his story, his passion for helping others and life as a Scottish Premiership manager! Community Spotlight this Week - Dumfries Saints https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

As we gear towards the Christmas break, we decided to have a look at how the 2024/25 season has gone for our 11 D&G sides so far. Some teams have now reached the halfway mark, while others are playing their final domestic games before cup action! One thing for sure, however, is that there is a lot to be excited about coming up - D&G derbies, title-winning clashes and must-win survival enco...

In Part 1 of this week's podcast, we welcome Newton Stewart head coach Nic Lloyd to talk about his journey to southwest Scotland from Australia, his coaching philosophy and his admiration for rugby here in D&G! In Part 2, we have a busy schedule with Community Spotlight, Players of October, Coaches Question, Results Roundup, Fixtures Preview & AORB! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

This week is something a little different as we discuss the recent SRU meeting between the Glasgow South clubs, which focused on the transition and retention of a club's players, parents, coaches and volunteers! John & Ross also have a special Community Spotlight and Coaches' Question, as well as all the results and every single D&G fixture! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

On the 19th of March 2022, David Hill lost his life from a sudden cardiac incident, while playing rugby, at the age of just 30. Since his passing, David's father, Rodger, and his family have worked tirelessly to set up the DH9 Foundation and help people across the country better understand the risks of undiagnosed heart conditions. Rodger joins us on the podcast to talk about teaching CPR, donatin...

With John unavailable, (and not wanting to make you sit through another episode of Ross by himself), we decided to bring in a new podcast host for the very first time! Our Season 3 sponsor Cammy Little comes to save the day this week and sits down with Ross to ensure it's business as usual here at DGRP! https://linktr.ee/dgrugbypod

Now that we are already seven weeks into the season, we thought it was time to take a look at how each of our teams are faring - League tables, tries scored, points differences and key players for each team in 2024/25 so far! This weekend coming is also the first time that all 11 D&G sides are due to be in action so John and Ross work their way through a bumper fixtures preview! http://www.lin...

This week our special guest is Scotland international Ken Macaulay, who this weekend sets out on an inspirational bike journey across the whole of the country to raise money for 4 fabulous charities! We also have a VERY busy part 2 section with the community spotlight, coach's questions, players of the month for September, results roundup, fixtures preview and any other rugby business!

Annan Warriors star Kayleigh Warrick is our special guest this week to talk about their brilliant start to the season, playing rugby with her dad as head coach and helping organise the Pigbarians touring 7s side! We also have Moffat as the club under the spotlight, a thought-provoking coaches' question and 9 fixtures to preview for this weekend!

Dumfries Saints legend Ross Strawbridge is in the hot seat this week to talk us through the new ethos at Park Farm, the rise of rugby in D&G and even to read us a wee poem he wrote just for the podcast! In part 2, the community spotlight & coaches' questions return, while there are also 11 fixtures to preview for this coming weekend!

This week's episode, (unluckily for you), is just 35 minutes of Ross by himself! Due to certain circumstances, John and any guests were unavailable so Ross spent some time running through the region's results - in which there was a draw! - and previewing what we have coming up this weekend. Although it may feel like listening to Ross' personal stream of consciousness, we promise there...

For the first time this season, we are without a guest but it allows us the chance to take a deeper dive into the new segments of the podcast, as well as some time to preview the NINE games we have coming up this weekend! It's also John's birthday week so we, of course, celebrate the man himself by giving him free rein to do what he does best - talk! Happy birthday, mate!

After Shire's strong start to the 2024/25 season, we invite Blair Forsyth to chat through all the good things happening at the club, Hearts & Balls Rugby 7s and even the late tackles he has been putting in on our very own host, Ross! We also introduce 2 new segments of the pod - Community Spotlight and Coaches Questions - for the first time before previewing a mouthwatering D&G derby l...

We are back for Season 3 of the podcast and are delighted to welcome Sport & Community Coordinator and star rugby-mum Aileen Marchant on as our first guest! Aileen is the chief organiser of this weekend's 'Eat to Compete' girls' rugby day which is aimed to help young women across the country learn about health & nutrition in rugby! Sign up available here: https://forms.offi...

For the final episode of the second season here at DGRP, we invited Annan's Alex Halliday to talk us through his journey and give us the inside scoop on the great escape that went on at Violetbank this year! John & Ross also give a 1-minute season review for each of our 11 beloved D&G sides before signing off the series and looking ahead to #3! 0:00 - 49:38 - Alex Halliday 49:39 - 1:10...

After capping off what has been a great season at Holm Park over the weekend, we invited Scott Galloway onto the podcast to give us the rundown on how times are changing for the team, the excitement that is building for the Moffat 10s tournament and he even shares the story of the time he (may or may not have) stolen from Murrayfield! This episode also includes the final 10 or so minutes of Jason...

Following Shire's strong away win over the weekend that saw them safe in West 1 for another year, we (only John actually) sat down with the notorious Jason Mckie! Jason talks rugby in New Zealand, the Spice Cup and what it's like living life as a "snake!" 0:00 - 43:04 - Jason Mckie 43:05 - 57:31 - Results Roundup & Fixtures Preview 57:32 - 1:05:03 - AORB & Congratulations...

Another week, another episode and another Scottish international as a guest! Louise Taperell joins us this week to talk Dumfries Saints, her love for the front row and scoring against England in the U18 Six Nations! 0:00 - 26:35 - Louise Taperell 26:36 - 35:59 - Results Roundup 36:00 - 49:16 - Fixtures Preview & AORB

The podcast's first-ever guest, Stafford McDowall, rejoins us here in Season 2 to chat about karaoke choices, Champions Cup rugby at Glasgow Warriors and lining up against Bundee Aki in the 6 Nations for Scotland! 0:00 - 38:15 - Stafford McDowall 38:16 - 45:28 - League Structure 45:29 - 51:45 - Results Roundup 51:46 - 1:01:04 - Fixtures Preview & AORB