Up Close: Huw Griffin on Henry Pollock, Nations Championship Update, Springbok Women's Rise

Up Close: Huw Griffin on Henry Pollock, Nations Championship Update, Springbok Women's Rise

Is Henry Pollock actually the villain South Africa's made him out to be, or has the whole thing been built by everyone except him?Huw Griffin returns to join MW Welman on the Loose Pass Rugby Podcast fresh off a media day at England v Fiji, where he sat in on Pollock's own press conference and came away with his own read on rugby's most talked-about young player. From there the conversation moves through the Nations Championship's strange hemisphere logic, a form check on Wales heading into Durban to face yet another reshuffled Springbok side, and a look at the Springbok Women's wild split series against the USA.In this episode:- Huw's first-hand take on Henry Pollock, on camera and off it- Why the Nations Championship has fans cheering for their own rivals- Wales' form line into Durban: a big win over Fiji, a heavy loss to Argentina- The Springbok Women's first-half blitz against the USA, and what changed in the second TestIf you enjoy the show, the best thing you can do is LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the BELL so you never miss an episode.

Can the Bulls & Stormers Actually Pull This Off? | Loose Pass Rugby Podcast

The case for SA teams pulling off both upsets is real. Huw Griffin ran the numbers on both URC semi-finals and found something worth paying attention to: the Bulls out-kick Glasgow over the course of the season, and the Stormers match Leinster almost exactly on gain line statistics.📊 The case for SA teams pulling off both upsets is real, and MW and Huw build it with data across Glasgow vs Bulls and Leinster vs Stormers.In this episode:🏉 Glasgow vs Bulls: the kicking battle, the turnover risk, and why rain at Murrayfield could decide everything🏉 Leinster vs Stormers: Sascha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's injury, what Yuri Matea changes, and the gain line collision🏉 The counterintuitive stats that shift the semi-final picture for both SA teams🏉 Jacques Nienaber, Leo Cullen, and the question of who is actually running LeinsterOn this episode of the Loose Pass Rugby Podcast, MW Welman and Huw Griffin break down both URC semi-finals with data, disagreement, and a prediction or two.If you enjoy the show, the best thing you can do is LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the BELL so you never miss an episode.

Rugby Teams Are Training for the Wrong Possession. Leinster Learned the Hard Way | Kennedy Tsimba

Kennedy Tsimba has spent years building a case that rugby teams are spending their training week on the wrong things.As Bulls skills coach, Tsimba has developed a formal thesis around transitions (the moments when possession changes hands), and the numbers from the Champions Cup final are hard to ignore. Bordeaux had 32 transition opportunities to Leinster's 20. They knew what to do with them. Leinster didn't. Tsimba calls the ability to handle these moments "the shift": a change in mindset, space, and tactics that most teams train for last, if at all. He draws on research with a Golden State Warriors psychologist, conversations with fighter pilots, and applied analysis from football and basketball to argue that winning the chaos is coachable.On this episode of the Loose Pass Rugby Podcast, MW Welman and Huw Griffin sit down with Kennedy Tsimba to dig into his transition framework, break down clips from the Champions Cup final, and ask the question coaches keep avoiding: what happens when the structure falls apart?

Is a NEW British and Irish League About to SHUT South Africa Out? | Loose Pass Rugby Podcast

A British and Irish League merger between the URC and the Premiership may be closer than anyone is admitting, and South Africa could be left with nowhere to go.Huw Griffin breaks down the clues: CVC's shared ownership stake across both competitions, Ealing Trailfinders reportedly being green-lit to join the URC, and quiet talks about merging the women's competitions on the same lines. Huw thinks there is substance to the rumours, and MW unpacks what it could mean for SA clubs, the Rugby Championship, and whether South Africa is playing a high-stakes bluffing game with very little to fall back on.Elsewhere: the Stormers' worrying run of form after losing to Cardiff, why the Bulls are hard to analyse but easy to fear, Connacht's remarkable turnaround under Stuart Lancaster, and a full preview of both European finals including Huw's case for why Leinster peak at the right moment against UBB. Plus a rugby stats rant that needed to happen, and your weekly Welsh and Afrikaans lesson.On this episode of the Loose Pass Rugby Podcast, MW Welman and Huw Griffin give you Southern grit meets Northern tradition, unfiltered.

Nadine Roos is One of the BEST Women's Rugby Players in the World. This is Her Story

Rugby chose her. She made the most of it.Nadine Roos grew up on a farm in Limpopo, played cricket, athletics, netball and WWE with the boys, and did not know women's rugby existed in South Africa until she walked onto a university campus. She found out sevens was an Olympic sport. A month later she was in France.MW Welman and Huw Griffin sit down with the Springbok Women's star to go through the full story. The grandmother who set the standard. The five overseas offers. The ACL. The try against France that had the TMO second-guessing himself. The scrum half jersey she picked up almost by accident.This is the Nadine Roos story, on the Loose Pass Rugby Podcast.