Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

Episode

• The Power Of Little Hooks 03.06.2026 10mnt

  A small moment can change an athlete more than a big speech ever will. We’re digging into the idea of “little hooks” the tiny wins, cues, and shared moments that get players latched onto learning and pulling themselves forward. We start with a simple family story: an alphabet game where an eight-year-old learns a country for every letter. The real magic isn’t the trivia. It’s what happens after he feels competent. He starts lighting up when he hears new country names, asking questions, looki...
• Alex Laybourne: Swedens rise to Top 30 on a shoestring 31.05.2026 1j 1mnt

  What does it take for a fully amateur national team to punch above its weight and chase top-30 ambitions? We unpack Sweden’s rise with head coach Alex Laybourne, tracing a bold shift from “show up and play” to a no-excuses culture where standards, clarity, and innovation fuel results. From the outside, it looks improbable: limited budget, a shallow depth chart, and COVID-era hurdles. Inside, it’s a masterclass in identity, ownership, and doing more with less. We start with culture as lived b...
• How to Make and Break Confidence 27.05.2026 11mnt

  If you’ve ever walked into a team review wondering which clip will make you look stupid, you already know how confidence gets crushed. We talk about coaching confidence through the most common tool coaches use and misuse: feedback. When reviews become a public list of everything that went wrong, players don’t just feel corrected, they feel exposed. And once fear shows up, learning slows down, decision-making tightens, and team culture quietly deteriorates. We unpack why so many coaches defau...
• Gary Gold: What Coaches Get Wrong With Culture. 24.05.2026 1j 11mnt

  If “culture” makes your eyes glaze over, try this: design the environment and make excellence a habit. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with international head coach Gary Gold, who has led in South Africa, England, Japan, and the U.S. We dig into what truly differentiates winning clubs when talent is close—and why it’s rarely another page in the playbook. Gary reframes culture as daily, observable behaviors anyone can own, from chasing a kick to resetting your attitude after a loss. H...
• What If Your Best Coaching Is Silence 20.05.2026 8mnt

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• Filo Tiatia: Edge And Empathy In Coaching 17.05.2026 57mnt

  Culture isn’t a slogan; it’s the air your team breathes. With Filo Tiatia, iconic loose forward turned pro coach across New Zealand, Japan, and Wales—we unpack how identity, empathy, and non-negotiable standards create environments where people feel safe, stretched, and proud of how they do things here. From Samoan and Japanese customs to the daily rituals inside a professional club, Filo shows why clarity of behavior and belonging beats hype every time. We dig into the hardest pivot a coach...
• How Community Rugby Sustains Elite Performance, and How You can See it 13.05.2026 12mnt

  Elite rugby loves to talk about high performance, but the uncomfortable question is simpler: what happens when the clubs empty out? We dig into the community game and why participation is the true performance metric that quietly decides a nation’s future. With a powerful snippet from David Nusafora, we unpack the idea that high performance can’t operate in isolation and that the relationship between performance and participation has to stay healthy for both sides to win. From there, we head ...
• David Nucifora: INSIDE IRELAND’S RISE 10.05.2026 1j 2mnt

  Most teams say they want a great culture. Far fewer leaders can explain what culture looks like on a random Tuesday, or how to build it when pressure is high and everyone is watching the scoreboard. We sit down with David Nucifora, a longtime performance director and high performance leader across international rugby, to get concrete about what actually moves performance: daily behaviors, clear standards, and leaders who stay close enough to the work to feel what’s really going on. We dig in...
• The Greatest Poem For Coaches to have in their Pocket 06.05.2026 8mnt

  The most dangerous trap for a coach is thinking leadership is a clean job. It isn’t. Rugby coaching lives in the arena: the training ground when energy is flat, the change room when emotions run high, and game day when every decision gets judged in real time. That’s why we come back to Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena,” a short piece of language that hits hardest when you need it most. We listen to the poem and then pull out three takeaways built for coaches, captains, and anyone r...
• Scott Johnson: Why most team values are meaningless… and what actually builds culture. 03.05.2026 1j 3mnt

  Forget the posters. Scott Johnson, one of rugby’s most widely traveled coaches, breaks down culture as the simple, repeatable ways we do things—and the accountability that keeps them real. We explore why “team as family” sets people up to fail, how buzzwords like honesty can backfire, and why deeds and shared language matter more than slogans. Scott’s stories move from national team pressure to rebuilding environments, revealing how small margins can skew narratives while the real work happen...
• How Physical Micro-Rituals Stop Overthinking In Sport 29.04.2026 8mnt

  A single mistake can hijack an entire training session. We’ve both seen it: a young player drops a ball, throws a pass behind, misses a read and then spends the next 20 minutes replaying it in their head. Confidence dips, choices get slower, and the game stops feeling fun. That’s why we’re digging into mental resilience and mental strength through a surprisingly simple lens: the body can help the mind reset. We pull a key idea from modern sports psychology and coaching culture: physica...
• Culture Is a Delusion: Jed Thian’s Brutal Truth About Rugby 26.04.2026 59mnt

  The opening punch lands fast: learn how to control yourself or someone will control you. From there, we pull a thread that runs from Roman drill fields to packed terraces—how rugby evolved as organized collision, how the ball operates as a symbol of authority, and why our modern pursuit of power and pace may be steering the sport into dangerous territory. Jedi brings a provocative thesis: culture is what you do whether you win or lose, not the mask you wear for the cameras. If that feels unco...
• Kieran Read: What I recommend you do, if you were All Blacks captain. 22.04.2026 58mnt

  One careless comment can shrink a player for months. One intentional conversation can change a career. That’s the tension at the heart of leadership and it’s exactly where Kieran Read goes with us. From describing himself as a shy kid who didn’t speak up, Kieran walks through how he grew into captaining the All Blacks, and what that journey teaches anyone trying to build a stronger team culture at work or in sport. We get specific about what “culture” actually is: the behaviors you tol...
• Joe Launchbury on Leadership, Culture & Accountability in Rugby 19.04.2026 1j 2mnt

  What really builds culture when results, bodies, and time are under pressure? We sit down with Joe Launchbury—70-cap England lock, longtime Wasps leader, and current Harlequin—to unpack how simple behaviors, sharp communication, and quiet ownership become competitive edges. Joe’s definition of culture is disarmingly clear: do what you said you would do, through good and bad. From coffee cups and punctuality to learning your role, he shows how small standards compound into trust—and how trust ...
• What If Losing Is Where Culture Begins 15.04.2026 11mnt

  A team loses a final. The microphone shows up. Most leaders reach for explanations, soft excuses, or someone to blame. We don’t. We play a short, stunning post-game interview from Gav Hickey, who coaches the Naval Academy in the United States, and we slow it down to hear what it reveals about real leadership, coaching culture, and what your players learn from your voice. Gav’s message is all pride and perspective: he talks about the character of his players, the joy of spending time together...
• Mark Jones on Leadership : Why Coaches Fail When Players Don’t Buy In. 12.04.2026 1j 2mnt

  What makes a team’s culture visible when the pressure is highest? We sit down with Ospreys head coach Mark Jones to unpack the daily habits, leadership handoffs, and language choices that turn values into actions. From Neath’s valley steel to Swansea’s coastal ease, Mark traces how a region’s identity shapes a squad’s edge—and why the first job of a head coach is to confirm the group still believes in the same things you do. Mark takes us inside the warm-up zone where music, micro-chats, and...
• Tony Shaw on Rugby Toughness & Culture: “If You Want Comfort, You’re in the Wrong Game” 08.04.2026 1j 1mnt

  If you would like to get on this tour: https://gullivers.com.au/product/wallabiesvspumas-argentina-tour-2026/?utm_source=partnername&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=CoachingCulture_Podcast_8April Culture isn’t a poster on the wall. It’s what your team does when nobody is watching, when someone gets dropped, and when the trip gets uncomfortable. I’m joined by Wallabies legend and former Rugby Australia president Tony Shaw to get practical about what team culture really is, how ...
• Felipe Contepomi: When Your Greatest Strength Becomes Your Biggest Flaw 05.04.2026 1j

  What if passion isn’t the finish line but the fuel—and only excellence keeps the engine from overheating? We sit down with Hall of Famer and Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi to unpack a coaching philosophy that’s as rigorous as it is human: high standards matched with high support. From Buenos Aires to the global stage, Felipe explains how the Pumas preserve their Latin fire while adopting the precision and discipline that turn emotion into execution. We trace his journey from captain t...
• The Right Music Turns A Group Into A Team 01.04.2026 11mnt

  The fastest way to change a team’s mood might be sitting right on the gym wall: the speaker. We get into a simple coaching decision that quietly shapes everything that follows training effort, energy, and unity. When anyone can grab the iPad and throw on whatever track they feel like, the room drifts. But when the music matches the purpose of the session, it becomes a cue. Just like calm sound belongs in yoga, high-intensity gym music can help rugby players switch on, lift hard, and move with...
• Ben John: Building Community And Skill In Online Rugby 29.03.2026 1j 2mnt

  What if online coaching didn’t just deliver drills but built a real sense of belonging? We sit down with Ben John—ex-Ospreys center and the force behind The Rugby Trainer—to explore how a lockdown idea became a global coaching platform that helps players love the craft, master the details, and feel part of something bigger than themselves. Ben shares the simple cornerstone of his method: a ten-minute habit and a skill flywheel. Players work a focused skill alone, try it at team training, the...