%20copy.png)
Coaching Culture with Ben Herring
Coaching Culture with Ben Herring is your weekly deep-dive into the often-overlooked “softer skills” of coaching—cultural innovation, communication, empathy, leadership, dealing with stress, and motivation. Each episode features candid conversations with the world’s top international rugby coaches, who share the personal stories and intangible insights behind their winning cultures, and too their biggest failures and learnings from them. This is where X’s and O’s meet heart and soul, empowering coaches at every level to foster authentic connections, inspire their teams, and elevate their own coaching craft. If you believe that the real gold in rugby lies beyond the scoreboard, Coaching Culture is the podcast for you.
Episodes
73 episodes
Reflections: From D Team to the Working with the Worlds Best
A team list can teach you more than a scoreboard. Ben opens up about growing up in New Zealand rugby culture, missing A teams year after year, and how that sting forged a durable kind of resilience that later powered a professional career and a...
•
16:53
%20copy%2010.png)
%20copy%2011.png)
The Tony Brown Effect. How he has got the Springboks to a new level.
A 70-point demolition tells one story. The way South Africa kept shape with cards, shuffled roles without panic, and attacked with conviction tells the real one: culture, clarity, and coaching aligned. We trace that edge back to Tony Brown’s fi...
•
11:59
%20copy%2010.png)
Phil Dowson: How A Director Of Rugby Shapes Behavior, Balance, And Belief
If culture is just words on a wall, it won’t survive a 30‑game season. We sat down with Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson to unpack how a top Premiership club actually lives its values: clear behaviors, blunt but caring feedback,...
•
1:02:36
.png)
A reflective look at the philosophies of Eddie Jones.
Coaches love big ideas until pressure hits and the ideas melt. Today we share our drafted chapter on Eddie Jones and pull out the hard, usable lessons that survive heat: culture as behavior, observation as a craft, and high standards delivered ...
•
20:57
%20copy%2010.png)
Nathan Grey: Toughness is a talent. Coaching the Red/Blue Head Mindset.
What if the best culture in your team is hiding in plain sight—in the way players clean a table, put plates away, or stick around for a coffee that really means connection? We sit down with Nathan Gray—Wallaby, defense specialist, and now direc...
•
1:02:09
%20copy%208.png)
You Don’t Need More Time; You Need Simpler, Sharper Sessions That Fit Your Team’s Identity
Ever feel like two practices a week can’t possibly cover skills, systems, set piece, and fitness? We unpack a practical blueprint that turns time pressure into sharper sessions, starting with the one choice that clarifies everything: define you...
•
17:04
.png)
Sean Graham: Youth Rugby Coaching Masterclass. A Playbook for School Rugby Success
What does a team feel like when the culture works? Players show up early. Coaches look for solutions when it rains. Conversations flow before and after practice because care and connection aren’t slogans—they’re the system. We sit down with Sea...
•
58:47
%20copy%205.png)
Coaching Under Pressure: Owning Your Dark Traits
Pressure doesn’t invent character—it reveals it. When the game tightens and the season bites back, many of us slide into sarcasm, shut people out, or bury ourselves in busywork that feels safe. I unpack those dark traits head-on and share how e...
•
15:17
.png)
Mick Byrne : From All Blacks to Fiji. How Self Awareness Creates Culture that Lasts.
What if culture didn’t need a slogan? Mick Byrne, head coach of the Flying Fijians and former All Blacks coach, joins us to unpack a disarmingly simple idea: culture is values, standards, and beliefs lived every day. No fanfare. No buzzwords. J...
•
1:04:22
%20copy%202.png)
Why Treating Parenting Like Coaching Creates Stronger Families And Teams
What if the best parenting lessons come from the locker room—and the sharpest coaching insights come from home? I share how a sudden end to a playing career and the birth of my first child collided, starting a sixteen-year stretch where coachin...
•
18:22
.png)
Sam Wykes: Building Team Culture Through People, Not Facilities. A Sunwolves Casestudy.
What if the best culture you ever built came after a 90-point loss? That’s not a stunt—it’s the backbone of our Sunwolves story, where people, not facilities, carried an underdog through brutal travel, language barriers, and constant roster chu...
•
1:13:09
%20copy.png)
Define Culture Or Drift: Why Writing It Down Raises The Bar
Ever wonder why some teams lift their standards from the inside while others grind for results that never stick? We dig into a simple chain that explains it: vision shapes leadership, leadership shapes culture, culture shapes performance, and p...
•
14:30
.png)
Ben Darwin: You Can't Out Coach the Numbers. Heres the Data to Prove it.
Ever notice how the “genius coach” story never mentions the stacked deck? We dig into the Monopoly Effect—a coin-flip advantage that people later mistake for skill—and use it to decode why some teams look unstoppable while others keep rebuildin...
•
1:18:18
%20copy%205.png)
How to reduce the anxiety your players feel
The fastest way to unlock performance isn’t a new drill or a sharper playbook—it’s lowering the mental noise your athletes carry in with them. We share a simple story from a doctor’s office that proves how precise care changes state without cha...
•
11:00
.png)
Glen Jackson: Talent doesn't always win: Building culture in the Fijian Drua.
Glenn Jackson's remarkable rugby journey defies conventional paths. After an impressive playing career with Bay of Plenty, the Chiefs, and Saracens (where he earned Premiership Players Player of the Year), he pivoted to become a professional re...
•
53:06
%20copy%204.png)
Ken Grover: The World Is Your Classroom: How Rugby Tours Build Character.
Want to find out more for how to organise a school tour:https://gullivers.com.au/rugbyschooltours/What happens when young athletes step outside their comfort zones and exper...
•
58:28
%20copy%203.png)
Eddie Jones on culture, risk, and advice to all coaches.
Want a culture that actually lives on the field? We sat down with Eddie Jones to unpack the coaching choices that create real belonging, sharper decision-making, and braver rugby. From leaving a safe career to grinding through 100‑player univer...
•
1:01:39
%20copy%202.png)
.png)
Jimmy Gopperth: What the Best Do Differently. Coaching Insights from the Worlds Most Capped Player.
526 professional games !How do elite rugby teams cultivate environments where players willingly run through brick walls for their coaches? Jimmy Gopperth, with an unprecedented 526 professional games across 23 years at the highest levels...
•
1:05:50
%20copy.png)
Five Ways Great Coaches Anchor Teams in Tough Times
The hardest weeks test more than your game model—they test your culture. When results wobble and the temptation is to drown the room in clips, we take a different route: start with why, connect the people, and then coach the work. Drawing on st...
•
21:48
.png)
Alando Soakai: Know your product, 'The game will take care of itself'
What transforms a drinking club with a rugby problem into championship winners? According to Alando Soakai, it begins with crystal-clear values that everyone truly lives by.In this captivating conversation, Alando takes us through his r...
•
48:34
%20copy%209.png)
The Gold You Didn’t Know You Were Mining
Have you ever had a moment when someone's casual comment completely transformed your thinking? In this deeply personal reflection, I share three unexpected insights from players that revolutionized my coaching philosophy over decades in profess...
•
13:57
.png)
Dan McKellar on Discipline, Culture & The Dressing Shed
Have you ever wondered what truly makes a championship team culture? Dan McKellar, current Waratahs head coach with a coaching resume spanning the Brumbies, Wallabies, and Leicester Tigers, cuts through the noise with refreshing honesty and cla...
•
53:23
.png)
.png)