Rugby Swag Show with Gift 'GiftTime' Egbelu

Farrah Douglas has been a rugby lifer since she was first introduced to it in college. It's lead her from being a player,  to a coach, to an administrator. On this episode Farrah speaks on how she got started with rugby, how she connects self identification with on-field play, and her journey navigates developing greater self-awareness of her environment and how it reflects on her philosophy...

Rashad Lipford started playing rugby his senior year of high school for proud program, Memphis Inner City Rugby. Which spurned a passion to create a team at the Historically Black College and University, North Carolina A&T . He's been developing the program over the last three years, getting the culture of the program together and has been loving every moment of it. Rashad talks to us abo...

James Brunson, director and coach for the North Philly Nomads, has been a rugby evangelist since he started playing in college in Hartford, Connecticut. Over 20 years later he has gone from rugby player,  to rugby organizer, to rugby coach, to subject of a feature film, "The Nomads" featuring Tika Sumpter. Brunson has been on a pathway that has lead him to becoming a key figure in the develop...

Matthew Provost was one of the first rugby players to play for Prairie View A&M Rugby. A former collegiate football player from a small town in Texas, he found himself at the historically black college and university, Prairie View A&M, which lead him down a world of personal change and introspection. Matt talks to us about his former football aspirations, why he decided attend and HBCU, ho...

Nicholas Walcott has had an extremely unique rugby journey. A from D1 College Football player who turned into one of the most influential nightclub promoters in the city of Chicago who found himself playing rugby professionally overseas. A major board member and former player for the Chicago Griffins Rugby Club, Nicholas has been receiving a wide perspective of the sports and rugby industry. A ver...

We'll be back with a normal episode next week. This week Gift Egbelu gives his thoughts and perspectives on the events that have happened since the George Floyd case, and where he thinks we need to go to moving forward. 

Cheta Emba is one of the leading rugby 7s fullbacks in the world. A Harvard graduate, who has found success in both athletics and academics. We talk about how she started in rugby, her experiences at the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics, and what her platform means to her. Sponsored by Rugby Outlet Mall , Use Promo Code "Greaux Rugby" for 20% all GTRN & HBCU Rugby Classic Gear Sponsored by Sin...

Ram Eddings is a major staple of the growth of rugby in the USA. A 2015 USA Rugby Hall of Fame Life Time Achievement Award recipient, Eddings changed the perception of the sport when he helped to create the Gray Wolves, a predominately African-American rugby touring squad. For over 25 years they played tournaments, not only to just compete, but to establish rugby roots in black and brown communiti...

Charity Williams entered her athletic career as a gymnast, but quickly found success in rugby. Williams talked about her rise through rugby, and how it related back to her day to day life. The experience of being a part of the Olympics, while being the youngest player on the team. She also spoke on how she deals with opponents and what she's looking forward to for this next Olympics.  Ch...

Seifuddin "Seif" Saafir is former rugby player, and current co-coach of Morehouse College Rugby. Saafir was part of the first two Morehouse teams that attended the HBCU Rugby Classic's, and won the second one. Saafir spoke about how Morehouse College Rugby started, what it means to attend a historically black college and university, the challenges of developing rugby in a culture that isn't very a...

Blaine Scully is the recently retired former USA Rugby Eagle National Team captain, as well as former player for the Leicester Tigers and Cardiff Blues in Premiership Rugby. Blaine took the time to sit down with us and discuss what it means to be a leader, how maturing in sports is not a linear path way and the ways he has gone about developing in his career. He also talks a little about his new p...

Angela Elena Stadelman is a women's national rugby player from Switzerland. She has accrued a following of over 12,000+ followers on Instagram and has a message to tell. She has been featured on MTV, and other various media networks. Her love for rugby is unlike anyone you have ever met, and she is not afraid to show it. We had a great conversation about her origin stories in rugby, how the countr...

We had a great conversation with Chisa Egbelu of PeduL. PeduL is a platform to ensure that all students have equal access to academic and professional opportunities. Chisa speaks to us on how PeduL can help with young rugby athletes and connecting with corporations for future work, how they got started, and what the USA market is looking for students. Check out PeduL on their website: https://www....

Phil Thiel played for  USA Rugby from 2008 to 2018 as the primary hooker for the USA Rugby 15s side.  We got to talk about his time at Life University, playing internationally for the Saracens and the USA Rugby national team, as well as post-professional sports life and fatherhood. A Great conversation with a great guy.  Enjoy it! Sponsor: Rugby Outlet Mall: Equipping you for Freedo...

We had the pleasure of sitting down to talk with Prairie View A&M University Rugby team president, Rhahim Vital, and senior and captain, Michael Toussaint. I had the pleasure of meeting them for our first HBCU Rugby Classic back in 2018, and again in 2019. We were preparing for a third comeback here in 2020, but coronavirus struck down. Great interview talking about the impact of rugby on HBCU...

Naya Tapper came on the show to talk with us. This was part of our promotion leading up to the HBCU Rugby Classic, but of course because of the corona virus we had to cancel. None the less, this was a great conversation about the origins of Naya, as well as what she's doing to try and secure her future while utilizing this global platform of rugby. We get to deep dive into some of the advantages a...

Dave Rimes is based in Florida, USA. He has played at the North American High School 7s Tournament as a member of the all-star touring squad, Atlantis High School Rugby, as well as a member of the USA High School All-Americans. Rimes has faced his set of challenges during his rugby journey, many coming from his handling of the type 1 diabetes that he carries. We talk about his journey and motivati...

We bring our old podcast, Greaux Rugby, back from the dead, as we open up with interview with the co-founders of the R.O.O.T.S Rugby team, Tiana and Kyle Granby. R.O.O.T.S Rugby is a touring rugby team that uplifts and brings together players of the African diaspora from all countries, to come play rugby with them at different tournaments around the world.