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PODCAST

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

sports rugby

All Episodes

56:18

Stu Edwards: Looking after Coaches Mental Well Being

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/25

Add to the research here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEaFJl2Iks5RDGq93lTXyOv3RS5SoNJsibRPVWytiQgSWarg/viewform?pli=1 What if the biggest performance edge your team is missing is the well-being of the person leading it? We sit down with Stuart Edwards—defense coach for Finland and former police officer—who’s conducting one of the first deep academic dives into stress, burnout, and support systems for rugby coaches. From community volunteers to pro environments, the patterns are ...

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69:13

Craig Newby: Losing Teaches What Winning Hides

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/22

What do you do when the scoreboard won’t budge? We sit down with Cambridge head coach Craig Newby for an unfiltered look at leadership, culture, and performance in the middle of a 14-game winless run—and why this stretch might be the most rewarding of his career. Craig breaks down the simple, sturdy framework that keeps his team aligned: “Fit, Tight, Fight” as non-negotiable standards, and three big rocks—set piece, transition, and collisions—that shape every meeting, practice plan, and revie...

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10:37

Reflections: Work Rate Beats Game IQ More Than...

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/18

What if the fastest way to a stronger culture isn’t a better speech but a better session plan? We take a hard look at Gordon Tietjens’ legendary methods with the All Blacks Sevens and unpack why brutal fitness, unbendable standards, and purpose‑driven training turned talent into titles—and teammates into family. We start with the heart of Tietjens’ philosophy: the harder you work together, the closer you become. In sevens, effort is public and undeniable—everyone sees the chase, the clean, t...

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61:04

Gordon Tietjens: I Coach Intensity Before Tactics

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/15

What if the hardest session you’ve ever done became the moment your team truly bonded? We sit down with Sir Gordon Tietjens, the architect of All Blacks Sevens dominance, to unpack a culture built on honesty, humility, discipline, and relentless work—and why those values still win when talent alone can’t. Tietjens takes us inside his selection philosophy, revealing why character outruns hype in a sport decided by inches. He breaks down his traffic‑light model—greens who self‑drive, yellows w...

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13:55

Reflections: How to deal with Pressure

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/11

Pressure isn’t a detour in coaching—it’s the road itself. We open up about the weight leaders carry, from constant decision-making to public scrutiny, and why stress doesn’t signal failure but commitment. Instead of wishing problems away, we talk about building the muscle to walk through them, drawing on research-backed ideas about process-focused mindset shifts that shorten the emotional downtime after hard calls and tough losses. From there, we get practical. We lay out how to build a clea...

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77:54

Joey Mongalo: How to Deal with the Pressures of Coaching

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/08

Ever feel like your work is judged on the tiniest slice of time while everything that matters happens in the shadows? We sit down with Sharks coach and leadership consultant Joey Mongalo to unpack how identity, conviction, and a clear model help leaders thrive under pressure—on the field and in the boardroom. We start with the uncomfortable truth: people judge coaches on 80 minutes. Joey explains how he anchors himself by revisiting his track record to counter noise with facts, then shows wh...

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12:58

Reflections: How First and Last Moments Shape Coaching

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/04

A surgeon’s simple habit changed the way we coach. We dig into how the first and last moments of any experience anchor the emotion, memory, and meaning people carry forward—and how that insight can turn ordinary sessions into powerful learning events. Starting from an unexpected colonoscopy analogy, we translate a soft start and a calm finish into practical tools for rugby and any team environment. We walk through three levels of application. At the season level, we show how a strong opening...

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72:04

Andre Pretorius: Understand And Assist

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/02/01

A late-night training, a tired team, and a coach who missed the real story—that’s where everything changed. Andre Petorius shares how a single moment of misread effort led him to apologize, “break the chain” of how he was coached, and build a people-first approach anchored in three words: understand and assist. We dive into a definition you’ll remember long after the episode ends: culture as your team’s immune system. Andre shows how small daily behaviors—inviting young players into extras, ...

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10:27

Reflection: Learning from a master coach

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/28

Pressure without panic. That was the standout energy we brought home from the Brisbane youth rugby coaches forum, where we watched Mike Cron turn complex coaching into something calm, sharp, and deeply human. We open up our notes on how sky-high standards can thrive without fear, why fewer cues and more silence often produce better reps, and how the right tech can transform players into self-directed learners. We talk through Cron’s approach to culture: make the standard crystal clear, keep ...

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65:08

Nick Evans: Removing the Burden of Outcome

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/25

What if performance starts with belonging, not tactics? We sit down with Nick Evans—All Black fly-half turned Harlequins attack coach—to unpack how culture, clarity, and a few well-chosen words can change the way a team competes under pressure. From honoring ancestry to owning identity, Nick shows why connection is the foundation that makes hard conversations possible and results sustainable. We trace his journey from player to coach, including the painful lesson of a 28-slide attack deck th...

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11:57

Reflections: Bens Coaching Playbook

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/21

https://www.coachingculture.com.au/Bens_Culture_Playbook Download Ever notice two teams run the same drills with the same energy, yet one takes off while the other stalls? We dig into the invisible factor that decides that split: culture. Not the poster on the wall or the pregame speech, but the lived behaviors you tolerate, the way mistakes are handled, whose voice carries, and what gets ignored. Drawing on years of coaching across countries and age groups, we share a practical Culture ...

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71:38

Ben Darwin: Why coaches get sacked.

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/18

Want to know why the “hot coach” from a powerhouse program often struggles at your club? We sit down with Ben Darwin of Gain Line Analytics to unpack the data behind coach hiring, culture, and the compounding power of cohesion. The conversation challenges easy narratives and asks harder questions about why stability, system fit, and patience routinely beat short-term fixes. We break down a striking contrast from the NRL: assistants leaving the dominant Melbourne Storm win far less elsewhere ...

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12:47

Reflections: Twenty Years, Five Lessons In Love And...

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/14

A 20-year anniversary felt like the right moment to unpack how love, family, and coaching actually work together in real life. I share five lessons that kept our marriage strong and made me a better pro rugby coach: trusting instinct, choosing adventure together, building a home that tells the truth kindly, parenting with intent, and staying fit to protect connection and clarity. It’s the honest version—fast decisions that paid off, moves across continents that stretched us, and late-night de...

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65:26

Zane Hilton: I Was A Bad Player, So I Coached Instead

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/11

What if the most important part of coaching isn’t the playbook, but the five-minute chat before training? We sit down with Zane Hilton, assistant coach of the Queensland Reds, to unpack a career built on process, simplicity, and relentless human connection—despite never having played professionally. Zane’s story spans Italy, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, and Australia, revealing how culture becomes real only when it shows up in behavior under pressure. We dig into his coaching methodology—train well,...

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12:12

Reflections: Bens Book Review

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/06

A dusty bookshelf turned into a wake-up call. While sorting old favorites, we found a box of Tuesdays with Morrie—and that rediscovery became a fresh look at how culture, love, and emotion shape the way we coach and lead. What starts as a short memoir about weekly visits to a dying professor unfolds into a clear-eyed syllabus for living with purpose when the world keeps pushing speed, status, and more. We walk through the story’s simple structure—Tuesdays as classes—and pull out the lessons ...

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63:02

Andrew Hore: Hard Conversations Keep Standards High

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2026/01/04

What if the toughest conversations are actually acts of care? We sit down with Andrew Hore—veteran leader across the Crusaders, Ospreys, New Zealand Rugby, and the Blues—to unpack how culture really works when the stakes are high and the calendars are relentless. Andrew doesn’t sell slogans; he shares systems. From the iceberg of unwritten behaviors to the moments a leader must step back and let the team “color in” the framework, he shows why ownership beats oversight and why challenge, deliv...

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20:10

Reflections: Privilege, Context, And The Real Measure...

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2025/12/30

A year can teach more than a stack of textbooks when you commit to showing up every week. We look back on a season built on a simple promise: open a door to world-class coaching minds so any coach, in any town, can learn directly from people who are in the arena. Along the way, we learned new crafts—audio, video, messy garage setups, timezone chaos—and hit 100,000 downloads, a milestone that matters only because it means ideas landed when people needed them. Two conversations shaped our thin...

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43:27

Warren Kennaugh: Your Team Is Not A Democracy, And...

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2025/12/28

Pressure doesn’t invent behavior; it reveals it. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with behavioral strategist Warren Kenor, who brings three decades of coaching across elite rugby, cricket, golf, and Olympic equestrian. We dig into why “snaps” are almost never sudden and how the minutes leading up to a mistake hold the clues coaches overlook. Warren shows how to decode patterns with robust profiling, translate data into action, and make leadership choices that are calm, strategic, and ...

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9:04

Yes, We Ran A Christmas Beep Test And Loved It

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2025/12/24

Want a team that shows up, leans in, and stays connected when it matters most? Start with one small tradition. Ben shares a simple holiday story—a family beep test before Christmas lunch—and turns it into a clear playbook for leaders who want stronger culture and steadier performance. From youth to grandparents, everyone takes a role, and that shared ritual becomes a model for belonging, clarity, and care that any sports team or workplace can borrow. We unpack why traditions work so well: th...

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69:05

Chris Lendrum: Leading the leaders, running the NZRU

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring ·

2025/12/21

What truly turns a collection of talented individuals into a team that outperforms its parts? Chris Lendrum, GM of Professional Rugby and Performance at New Zealand Rugby, reframes culture with a striking idea: ten times eight can equal 60, 80, or 120 depending on the environment you build. From there, we unpack the daily leadership work that makes the “120” possible—where psychological safety meets accountability, and where connection fuels relentless standards. We get practical about selec...

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95 results

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