The London Welsh Rugby Club Podcast

In this episode, Cai sits down to chat to Gareth about winning Regional South Central 1 and getting promoted into National 2. We speak about the preparation that went into the season and the confidence the players had after beating Nat 2 opposition in pre season. How important it was to get the right start away at Bracknell and the relentless nature of the season. The club only dropped 3 points al...

Not many people will know this; but Tom started his senior rugby career at London Welsh where he played for both the Druids and the 1st XV after a couple of seasons in the Colts. His dad had captained the club in the 70's and amassed over 230 appearances for London Welsh. We start the podcast discussing the state of Welsh rugby and how Tom transitioned from playing rugby to a career as a Media Pun...

Haydn has made a massive contribution to London Welsh success off the pitch since he joined the Board when Project Reset was launched. We hear about how he and Pete Leyborne worked together to bring the Careers Hub to life and how they launched it to the players. Haydn gives us some great examples of how the Hub has helped the players excel off the pitch and how we use it to attract new players to...

Tom has only been with London Welsh for under 2 seasons, but boy what an impression he has made on and off the pitch. If would be fair to say he leads the charge in both and is very popular with our supporters with his all court play. He came to London Welsh from Manly Marlins and we get to hear about the Aussie Union pathway and the link this club has with that club. Tom also takes us through his...

Our guest this week is Morgan Browne, a huge part of the London Welsh family. He joined the Little Wizards, aged 5 with the rest of his family and has been a player ever since. Morgan loved his minis and youth rugby at the club, especially the tours he went on in Wales or to Europe. He played for Hampton School and was captain in his final year where he led the team out at Twickenham and played ag...

Jacob joined London Welsh after the Covid outbreak when he moved to London to work in advertising. A Monmouth boy through and through, who’s first love was initially football until he was taken to Abergavenny RFC at the age of 10. He then played all the way through the age groups, even when he attended Monmouth Boys School where he played against some of the best schools in England. Post school an...

Dan only played 9 matches for London Welsh when he was 18 and we were playing in London North West 2, which was at Level 8 in the English rugby pyramid. Brought up in Wales, having played club rugby for Llandovery and Brecon as a Mins/Youth player; he was then was part of the Ospreys Academy and capped at Wales at u16. Ospreys didn't sign him at 18 and Dan decided to join Ealing Trailfinders a...

Billy Moss played for London Welsh for 3 season between 2012 and 2015. He always played front row and loved playing for Tonbridge School and also Tunbridge Juddians. He was never picked up by any of the Academies, but played for County and then a scout mentioned he would play for England U18, which he subsequently did at all age grades. He then played plenty of rugby at University and was then sig...

Tommy is the current Backs Coach for the Performance squad at London Welsh. In this episode we discuss the current form of the team and we build towards the biggest game in Community rugby this weekend, with the top of the table clash between two ex Championship teams, with Jersey and London Welsh.. Everyone at the club is excited for the fixture and we are hoping for a big turnout from our suppor...

Allen is a Welshman and London Welsh man through and through. Played for Risca all the way through school and then decided to get out of the Wales bubble to further both his academic and rugby education up in Newcastle. This is the time when Newcastle Falcons where at the top of the Premiership with the help of the backing of Sir John Hall's investment and full of International players, like J...

Our guest this week is our top point scorer since project reset, Osian McAvoy.  Osian is a Llandeilo RFC graduate having played with their team all the way to seniors and even invites himself on their 150th anniversary tour to Beziers.  He represented Scarlets at U16 and U18 and had a training week with Wales age grade, before deciding to get out of Wales to experience life and prioritise his educ...

In this weeks' episode we chat to former London Welsh and Leicester player Dai (David) Williams. Dai comes from great sporting stock with a strong athletic background from both sides of his parents family. He was raised in Leicestershire and made his way into the Leicester team full of seasoned internationals. A job move to Brighton a few years later and he came to London Welsh and played here for...

Our guest this week is former London Welsh back row specialist, Mike Denbee. Mike born and bred in Somerset and was late to the game as a teenager; worked his way to the Weston Super Mare Colts, which helped him transition to senior rugby at the club. He was doing this whilst studying for a degree at Plymouth, but in his last year decide to have a crack at playing at Plymouth Albion with Graham Da...

Our guest this week is former London Welsh full back Matt Vines. Born and bred in Wales, he made the move to St Mary's University in London and found himself at London Welsh at 19. Matt was selected by Mike Gosling for a few first team appearances in that first season when they were promoted to National 3. Matt tells us about the Clive Griffiths era and the Semi professional approach of the club a...

Our guest this week is Academy Award winning producer James Gay-Rees producer of films including AMY, Senna and Diego Maradonna. Box to Box Films is an award documentary production company based in London, Paris and Los Angeles and they are the team behind Formula 1:Drive to Survive, Break Point, Full Swing, Unchained and the recently released SIX NATIONS:FULL CONTACT. James grew up in Richmond an...

Morlais has been a player, team manager and supporter of London Welsh for 59 years. Brought up in Mynnydd Careg and wasn't allowed to play rugby until he left school. He played for Kidwelly RFC whilst in Wales and then made the move to Notting Hill. You will not believe which club he played for first, before he made the move to London Welsh in 1965. Played for 20 years across the Extra A's, A's, D...

Our guest this week is Ben Whitehouse, WRU Professional Referee. A busy official who has just been been away for two rounds of European Cup duty as a referee and TMO; and is getting ready for the 6 Nations. We discuss what the Word Cup was like as part of the whole officiating squad and his role within it. We learn about his refereeing journey and get to understand who his role models are. A young...

Our guest this week is former British and Irish Lion and Wales Scrum Half, Mike Phillips. Mike gives his tribute on the loss of JPR; a true Wales, Lions and London Welsh Legend. We discuss his forthcoming appearance at London Welsh dinner on Feb 9th as part of the club's England vs Wales weekend. We also chat about what he is doing now that he lives in Dubai, plus we spend some time reflecting on...

Our guest this week is former Premiership Hooker, Dan George. We discuss the many sliding doors moments of rugby and what rugby has given him and continues to give him as he enjoys coaching at Old Albanians and Ealing Trailfinders Academy. He started life in Wales, representing his country at U16, U18 and U21, whilst representing the Scarlets and playing for Llandovery College. He moved to London...

Our guest this week is Senior Men's Coach and Head Coach of Druids, Andrew Evans. Andy was late to the game of rugby, only taking it up in West Scotland at the age of 17; but there was plenty of rugby pedigree in his family. He started life on the wing and post school found himself working as a Coach for the Scottish Rugby Union. He was meant to go into the Army at 19, but decided to loved coachin...

Our guest this week is our Aussie flanker Rohan. Born and bred in Sydney, playing touch rugby with his brothers and lots of club rugby in the suburbs before he got to make senior appearances. He gave up rugby for a few years post an ACL injury and moved to the UK . Will Taylor encouraged him to play touch at the club and the rest is history. A very popular player with the members and someone who c...

Our guest this week is Nigel. Nigel came to London Welsh in 1979 and either played or coached at the club for over 19 years. He takes us through his journey, plus all the tours the club went on during his time there. Nigel had offers to go and play elsewhere; but this was the only club for him. We hear about the escapades the 'Martini Club' get up to and what lifelong friendships he has ma...

A couple of guests this week. Our main guest is Sam, who joined London Welsh at the beginning of Project Reset and was a big character in the squad for the two seasons he played for the club. A very proud Northerner, who played some tough rugby in Yorkshire, who also escaped the UK to travel and to ski. Sadly work curtailed his LW journey, but he still turns out for the Vets and is often at ODP on...

Our guest this week is former London Welsh Scrum Half, Rob Lewis. Rob was brought up in Abergavenny and went to senior school in Hereford where he grew to love rugby. He signed professional terms with the Dragons and was loaned out the some Welsh Premiership clubs to get experience before he made his regional debut. Some 7's rugby for Wales and then Danny Wilson signed him for London Welsh. 8 year...

Our guest this week is Club Captain Adam Nixon. Adam was born in the Midlands and was part of both Leicester Tigers and Worcester Warriors Academies before he went to Australia to play rugby in his gap year. 4 years at Leeds University, where he played National 1 rugby; before he escaped to Guernsey to start his career in financial services and to play for the island team. 2 years of great fun for...