Women's Rugby Pod

WRP 141 - 6 Nations captain special.....including Sunter!  YES it's the start of the 6 Nations! Wales v Ireland, England v Scotland and Italy v France, plus the Super Rugby Aupiki finals & the Super W gets underway; so another huge week for women's rugby. We speak to three of the 6 Nations captains, from England, Sarah Hunter appearing in her last ever game of competitive rugby signs out...

WRP 140 - Front row union! This week not one but two members of the front row union; Lana Skeldon, of Scotland & Worcester & Wasps' & Red Rose squad member, Liz Crake. Scotland have just announced their squad for the up coming 6 Nations, of which Lana was, unsurprisingly, selected for. The international front rower chats about coming off the back of the World Cup, the lessons they lear...

WRP 139 - Tails....every time! Former Wales captain & Sale "acting head coach," Rachel Taylor joins Johnnie on the pod this week. "Tails" talks all things Wales with the 6 Nations squad announcement earlier this week, the balance of the squad, her views on the captain & who are the ones to look out for. The new wave of twenty five contracts are also chatted about & the small but consta...

WRP 138 - Catch Up!  We are back after a mid-season break & are with you now until the end of the season. So this week special guests, Scrum Queens Creator, Ali Donnelly, as well as Red Roses Head Coach Simon Middleton & Head of Women's Rugby in Australia, Jilly Collins; as we have a whistle-stop review of all the news from around the world in the last few weeks. The Lions! A women's...

WRP 137 - The Shaunagh Brown Show. Following her retirement from rugby over Christmas, Shaunagh Brown, of Harlequins & England joins us on the pod; to speak about her journey......up until now! A lady with one of the most extraordinary journey to the National team & indeed a World Cup final; Shaunagh has been a gas engineer, deep sea diver, had a professional boxing bout, competed in Highl...

WRP 136 - Christmas round-up. Finishing up 2022 with a speedy round up of a load of news from the world of Women's Rugby! Scotland's union awarded 28 contracts last week, we speak to friend of the pod Dr Rachel Malcolm. The Scotland captain gives us a sense of what this milestone means to her and the rest of the team, how it has come about and the differences she believes it will make. In Ireland...

WRP 135 - Captain Cymru. This week we Siwan Lillicrap joins us, following her announcement, to retire from international rugby. The "50-capper" doesn't look back too far to begin with, by reminiscing about her time in New Zealand at the World Cup. The skipper reflects on the tournament as a whole but also her nation's performances. Then we take the trip down memory lane, recounting where Siwan fir...

WRP 134 - We are Warriors!  This week, Worcester's Director of Rugby Jo Yapp joins the pod. The former England international is very honest about the last few months that she & the rest of the Warrior players & staff have had to go through. How she has coped not knowing what the future was going to hold but also where the club (women's section) is now & how are they able to operat...

WRP 133 - WRP + SQ WC D-B!! (in English WRP & Scrum Queens World Cup debrief!) Recovered yet?! Ali Donnelly, the founder of Scrum Queens, joins Johnnie Hammond for a full debrief of the Rugby World Cup 2021, days after the New Zealand's Black Ferns beat England at the big dance, again. Now the dust is settling the pair discuss that final: the red card, the yellow card, the tactics, the substit...

WRP 132 - Final .......captain's log.  The World Cup final is upon us & yet again the Red Roses skipper Sarah Hunter (MBE!) hosts the pod with broadcaster Johnnie Hammond. We dive head-first into the England camp & get "Sunter's" thoughts on the semi final games, the quality & drama. Sarah also speaks about this week, what the mood is like in the camp, what they have been up to &a...

WRP 131 - Captain's log: smiling semis with Fluhler, De Goede & Tuttosi. A comprehensive look at the World Cup semi finals with the lady of the hour, the record breaker Sarah Hunter MBE & challenging her for smiles we also have Black Fern Stacey Fluhler; as well as Canadian pair Sophie De Goede & Emily Tuttosi. "Sunter" takes us back to winning the record 138th cap at the weekend, what...

WRP 130 - Captain's log: round three  Again this week we go right into the heart of the England camp with (our own &) their captian, Sarah Hunter. Off the back of round 2 & ahead of round 3, of the Rugby World Cup, the gang are back together to discuss it all! "Sunter," World Cup winner, Rachael Burford & World Cup commentator Johnnie Hammond look back at the round two results, wi...

WRP 129 - La Crunch preview: Cockayne & Cornborough  Huge game in pool C at the World Cup, the biggest; England against arch rivals France. these two great rugby nations are normally the ones battling it out for the 6 Nations titles, no love lost between the two & not many points normally separate them either. England have won the last ten but as two of The Red Roses's front rowers ch...

WRP 128 - Captain's log, part 1 The Women's Rugby World Cup started with a bang in New Zealand! England with a record breaking win v Fiji & France lying in wait this weekend. So who better to have on than our very "our" Sarah Hunter MBE, England captain & in line to win cap 137! Sunter takes us right into the Red Roses camp, an exclusive, privileged insight; speaking of waterfalls, cricket...

WRP 127 - Pool C Pod  In the third and final pod this week, we cover off World Cup pool C, containing England, Fiji, France and South Africa. No better person to look ahead at England's opener and the rest of the pool games than the lady who lifted the trophy in 2014, Katy Daly-McLean (MBE!). The former captain talks about this time before the opening game and the keenness to get started, whe...

WRP 126 - Pool Pod 'B' It is finally here the 2021 World Cup..............in 2022! As all 12 teams get ready to do battle, we take you inside no less than 8 of the camps. These are split into 3 pods, 1 of each pool, this episode concentrates pool B, with USA, Canada, Japan and Italy. Canada captain Sophie De Goede, the daughter of not 1 but 2 former captains, who lead Canada to World Cups! From th...

WRP 125 - Pool Pod 'A' It is finally here the 2021 World Cup..............in 2022! As all 12 teams get ready to do battle, we take you inside no less than 8 of the camps. These are split into 3 pods, 1 of each pool and first up pool A, containing Australia, New Zealand, Wales and Scotland. Burf ( still on her holidays) and JH chat to Scotland captain Dr Rachel Malcolm, Wales stars Jazz Joyce and G...

WRP 124 - Calm before the storm On this week's pod, we've found Burf! The World Cup winner is sunning herself on holiday before the Big Dance starts and managed to take some time out of her busy schedule! Rachael and JH catch up on all the news from the last couple of weeks, while the pod has been entrenched "in camps!" Golden girl Sharni Williams is on, chatting about the Australia win at the Wor...

WRP - 123 - Welsh Dreams. In the second podcast of the week, we go into the Welsh camp; the day their World Cup squad was announced. The 32-player group has a good mix of youth and experience & we got the full gambit of emotions from players all over that spectrum. We spoke to the spiritual leader & captain Siwan Lillicrap, also Olympian Jazz Joyce. Saracens flanker Georgia Evans, in her f...

WRP 122 - The World Cup bunch. The first of this week's podcasts, is a special one, deep from inside the England camp on the day of their 2021 World Cup squad announcement. Johnnie was at Pennyhill Park (first time for the women's team!!) and got all the reaction to Simon Middleton's selection of the 32! We hear the thoughts of the Head coach in a very candid chat; within which those big omissions...

WRP 121 - The final dress rehearsal.......This week the pod comes "live" from Ashton Gate where England took on Wales, looking to make an historic 25 wins in a row. Burf & Johnnie are back face-2-face for the final warm up game & last match to put down a marker for selection for both the Red Roses & The Welsh. Burf & Johnnie & joined by another World Cup winner Katy Daly-McLean...

WRP 120 - And so it begins.........we are back with series 4! And what a season it promises to be, not 1 but 2 World Cups, starting this weekend with the 7s World Cup & then on to New Zealand next month. Red Roses' captain & Johnnie Hammond reunite to kick off the series with all the news from the last couple of months. But no better place to start than last weekend & The Red Roses gam...

Canterbury tales with Jodie Ounsely. The second part of this special mini-series, again The Women's Rugby Pod partners with the iconic rugby brand Canterbury. In this episode, Jodie Ounsley the Sale Sharks and England 7s player opens up about her past, her present, her hopes and aspirations for the future. One of Canterbury's newest ambassadors, Jodie, talks about the existence of her competitive...

WRP 119 - Tri-pod! The wash up. In this the final pod of this series, Rachael, Sarah and Johnnie review the season as a whole. The trio discuss the advancements the game has made, not only on the picture but also off it; the historic 6 Nations, the autumn internationals, Super Rugby Aupiki, World 7 Series, Pac 4(!!!)....as ever nothing is missed. They give their team of the season as well as the p...

Canterbury tales with Ellie Kildunne. The start of a special three-part series on The Women's Rugby Pod as we partner with the most iconic rugby apparel brand Canterbury. Harlequins and Red Roses star Ellie chats with Johnnie about her start in rugby the various challenges she faced and is still facing. How she got involved in the game, who helped and who hindered her on that journey. The twinklin...