The mic is hot and the game is on. You're listening
to News for the Nation podcast by Aces Nation,
where we talk about nutrition, sports performance,
the journey of a student athlete, and more. I'm
Claire. I'm Zach. Time to level up. Welcome back
sports fans. Today we're starting part one of
a review of a documentary that we're watching.
We wanted to keep it in the sports realm. We're
watching Six Nations Full Contact. OK, it's about
rugby. If you don't know what Six Nations rugby
is, it's probably the biggest in the world, I
would say. So you should definitely look it up.
I have in the past year become way more of a
rugby fan than I thought I would. And any time
it's on early in the morning on the weekends
when it's in season or. Any like world matchups
are happening. I'm trying to watch it So I've
seen some pretty incredible games so far Claire
you like rugby I don't think I ever watched a
rugby match. I will say I am more privy to some
rugby players just because This is a little embarrassing
to admit because of my time watching Love Island.
There are a lot of rugby players on the line.
But yeah, no, I'm not super big into it. However,
just watching a little bit of this documentary,
I I'm very interested in watching it more, although
it is hard for me to watch because I'm like,
dang, that looks like it hurts the whole time.
Yeah, I know these hits are incredible. Hard.
Yeah. No pads. Guys are just laying into each
other. It's it's crazy to watch and just to know
even for me playing football, those guys are
doing that without pads on. Yeah. So to see some
of the injuries that they have or just some of
the bleeding and facial fractures, it makes sense.
Yeah. Like, I think when you think about the
sports that are common. in america that we watch
it i feel like it's a combination of a lot of
them like football soccer maybe even like wrestling
or some sort of like mixed martial arts just
because there's no padding or anything so there's
a lot of like physicality and aggressiveness
just bare bare bones Yeah, I think that's a good
point. Like I was going to bring that up to of
like all the similarities that happen within
it. You know, the contact is probably the closest
related to football. I think because of the origin,
you know, of what we know as football today and
rugby being so closely tied on the family tree,
if you will. Soccer, yes, probably like the energy
system and how the game flows. Right. It's a
continuous match. And you mentioned wrestling.
And yeah, I agree. Have you seen those guys with
cauliflower here? I mean, it's like, hey, there
it is. Yeah. You don't need to be on the mat
to get it right now or even like after after
a play or whatever. They're like pinning each
other down. You know, there's there's a lot of
similarities, which is. Crazy to think it's just
one sport and you've got all that going on. Yeah,
I know I know so Alright, so just so everyone
knows Claire and I have decided not to share
notes beforehand so that we're having a natural
conversation here about it so first episode Well,
okay, so we only we're only covering the first
two episodes right now It's an eight part eight
episode series So we're gonna do four of these
and kind of let them build on top of each other
here So the first the first two what I noticed
just overview of both of them was the first episode
was about The main players who it was like their
best players, right? They were smaller guys and
the second episode was about two bigger guys
going at me So that's the first thing I noticed
was they highlighted different people or different
types of players in these two episodes one being
like the more flashy or like marquee type of
players and the second one being like the the
biggest bruisers that could you know face each
other and and really kind of emphasizing the
physical contact of the sport Mm -hmm. I noticed
the same thing. Yeah, I thought it was interesting
and I kind of liked that I mean obviously they
focused on them as people their relationships
with the team with the coaches But I I like that
they also spent a decent amount of time focusing
on like what their specific role was Position
-wide and as a player and what the purpose of
their position was And went through the matches
or the games that they were playing and kind
of talked about That role what they were doing
well and what to look for I thought as a Non
-rugby watcher that was helpful Yeah, I agree
The first episode When they were showing the
first guy gosh off the top of my head I blanked
right now whether or not he's from ireland or
scotland. He was like he's like their main player
Yeah, and and they showed the training footage
where he's like he doesn't care about strength
conditioning type of training or whatever, you
know, just inside of me that just like like I
could really I can relate to having players like
that because I've seen that happen. But man,
it just drives you nuts. But I'm glad the guy
admitted it. He said, you know, I'm probably
I'm probably not the best in these training sessions.
Yeah, because his focus is different, you know,
and it's interesting when he shared his story
that he wasn't even really going to play. You
know, yeah, and being on the national team wasn't
really a like a big goal for him. Yeah, it wasn't
in his life plan, but he went. I think what did
he say? He left school to be a stonemason. Yeah,
so that was interesting. I definitely felt the
same in tight inside twinge when he said that
and just like the description of the relationship
with the coach and how he. you know, maybe wasn't
like the smartest character or he wasn't necessarily
the most responsible outside of practice. And
I think there are always, that always brings
up specific instances of potentially like athletes
that we've worked with where it's like, ah, how
much better they could be if you would just maybe
take those things a little bit more seriously,
like the strength and conditioning or the recovery
or the nutrition piece. But it was, Nice to see
that at least at the end of the episode. He was
talking about With now having a daughter who
at that point I think was almost 10 10 weeks
old he had a Shift in perspective and I think
that made him a little bit more Responsible and
also made him want to be better and try more
to set a good example for her Yeah agreed. He
definitely seemed Like it's like the way that
The episode started and the way it ended was
seemed like a maturing as you were talking about
for sure. One thing that I noted from that episode
about that guy was he plays on the Irish team,
but he has an apartment in a Scottish team. Sorry.
Sorry. And he plays there on their national team,
but he has an apartment in Paris. Did you notice
that they said it was his apartment? Yeah, it
seems like they play in Paris a lot. So I don't
know if maybe that's why or if maybe they have
family there. I don't know. Yeah, who knows?
It could be kind of like how I don't know if
I live in Tampa, but I have family somewhere
else and I have an apartment there. I don't know.
That's a good question. It was just interesting
to me when when they came across like I had the
little text on the screen to sit down. Wait,
what? Yeah, yeah, they focused on on him and
they focused on a guy from England who played
similar position and this guy was Gosh, why am
I I don't know I'm liking but he's from a different
country, right? He came from yeah, he was born
in the Philippines and he Also went to school
in Singapore before moving to England. Yeah,
which was interesting that you know He's on national
team for England and he's been elevated, you
know to as their their top guy Mm -hmm. So I
thought that was that was also interesting to
you know highlight these two players Individually,
right which I'm sure they're I like the other
teams Players as we as we come around to it.
Yeah, and it seems like that position What was
it called? something flyer it seems like they're
the quarterback of the team essentially like
they set the tone they're the kind of self -proclaimed
or unspoken leader if you will of the team so
I think it makes sense that they highlighted
those two and I think the reason they probably
highlighted the English and the Scottish ones
was because of the rivalry but also I think because
They're pretty they're out of the six. I think
they're the more high -profile teams from what
it seemed like they were Describing. Yeah, not
this year. No, I Ireland with the wind on st.
Patty's day day. I bet they were They weren't
gonna lose on that day. I know tell you that
I watched that game. They played Scotland. They
were not gonna lose Nice. Yeah, very interesting.
I Throughout the entire thing I am through my
head what was going through it Just with what
we talked about the physicality of it was I would
be interested to see a little bit more of the
behind -the -scenes of their training program
their recovery Maybe we hear from like athletic
trainers physicians if they work with any dietitians
like but what meals look like and and that sort
of thing because I think Obviously, we have a
little bit more of an inside look into what that
looks like in America. And even if we haven't
worked necessarily in like professional, it pretty
much mirrors collegiate, but maybe just like
a bigger budget. So I would be curious to see
what these guys are doing just because of the
physicality of the sport. And like, obviously,
from my perspective, thinking of, you know, combining
like, how do you combine nutrition for football,
soccer, wrestling, MMA, like that's a lot of
different things and energy systems and focuses.
How do you kind of navigate wrapping all of that
into one sport and giving these guys the best
recommendations for performance and recovery?
So that was what was going through my head and
being curious about what They might be told and
what guidelines and resources are given versus
what they actually are able to execute Yeah,
I agree. Also the thing that I was thinking about
just like you were Was I was watching their their
training footage right where they have these
little clips of stuff that they're doing whether
it's like hurdle mobility or There was some back
squatting in the first episode second episode
there was some rowing happening with the Italian
team, which was a little limited on the range
of motion. I'm not sure. I'm not sure why it
was programmed the way it was. Yeah. There was
some trap bar deadlift. There was some sled pushing
also in the second episode. So, yeah, I'm also
watching these things. And sure, I have thoughts
in my head about how to train rugby and Just
trying to see like the different cultures, right?
Because I know Training culture in I know in
England. It's it's way different than it is in
America, right? but like even different for what
it is in Italy what it is in other parts of the
UK or Ireland, so Yeah, it's just interesting.
I wish they would go more in depth. I feel like
right now It's like we got to show off like the
players get people who don't watch the sport
to like have a little more interest in it Maybe
we'll see something like that episode. I don't
know four or five six ish somewhere in the middle
They can maybe go a little more in depth as the
season goes on right and after they introduce,
you know different storylines from different
teams and whatnot in but Yeah, I want to I want
to hear some more insight and I'm sure we could
do our own research and reach out to other people
but hopefully they can kind of give shed some
light to Casual viewers, I guess if you will.
Mm -hmm Yeah, but you mentioned the Delight nutrition
side of it in the second episode. You see that
guy in that giant burrito in the car Good for
him yeah i'm sure too with their schedules they
they have to be a little bit creative but yeah
i think the main thing is just like how much
stress the physical contact of like not having
pads and being that physical during that sport
and i'm sure during training and practice too
how much strain that puts on their bodies Aces
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a demo. Let's go. And then you have lifting on
top of it. That's a lot. I mean, so that that
alone will increase your energy requirements.
But then also looking at like they're not small
guys and a lot of them are very muscular. So
that will also jack up your energy needs as well.
Yeah, I would imagine a lot of those guys are
trying to carry just a little extra body fat.
If they can, just in case. Yeah, just in case
they need it. Yeah, but you're right. I mean,
the energy expenditure of some of these guys,
especially the two guys in the second episode.
I mean, they were large human. Yeah. It was funny,
too, because they're not like I think also when
you maybe compare it to to American football,
you can see like a pretty drastic difference
between like body types and certain positions
in football. Whereas there was some difference
in rugby, but I think it was much more consistent
across the board of like, the larger guys were
larger, but they weren't like that much larger
than like the leaner guys. So they were all like,
pretty large. It was funny the comment made in
the first episode about one of the guys, the
commenter said, I don't know how he can be built
like a t -rex but move like a ballet dancer Because
he was moving So I thought that was funny too
of like looking at how large these athletes are
in terms of like they're just so muscular Their
quads are huge. They're tall but they're fast
Yeah, I know and and they're Gosh, they're so
so strong. I can't imagine being in the scrum
right there with everybody pushing against each
other Yeah, I think my body would break in half
Yeah, I mean the all those moments of like high
-force outputs is just incredible how they continue
to do it, you know throughout the game and these
directions and take hits and One of the interesting
things I thought from the first episode when
they were showing training was, you know how
when you get tackled, guys will lay down on their
side and outstretch their arms for the ball back
towards their players? They were training that
to be like as fast as possible, right? Yeah.
I thought that was really cool, right? Like I
think that's a symbol of like we're keeping possession
and type of thing. So. Yeah, just incredible
how they do what they do Mm -hmm. Yeah, I thought
that was interesting too and it it just kind
of put the emphasis on like Whatever it takes
at all costs. We will not be turning this ball
over so the fact that they're like Practicing
that and drilling it in so that you know in the
heat of the moment It's not like get rid of it.
It's We've practiced this under pressure. I know
what to do. It's second nature What didn't you
like about the first two episodes? I Don't know
that there was anything I didn't like I think
it's too early on to be like, oh I really didn't
like that I think the only thing I could think
of was what I mentioned before I'm just kind
of not really getting more of a look into like
what they're doing outside of practice because
I'm just very curious about that but I think
overall there was a good mix of Explaining things
looking at the personal lives of the individual
players and then also showing the game and the
competition Yeah Anything you didn't like well
not gonna say let me put it this way first before
I tell you what I didn't necessarily Like about
it. It's really giving me welcome to Rexam vibes
Minus the superstar owners, right? Have you seen
welcome to Rexam? OK. OK. You know, Tim brought
that up to us a long time ago when we were still
working at Hyde House when the first season came
out, we were working on direction. Yeah, we were
working at Hyde House when it came out. Oh, I
don't know what that is. It's a show about. Well,
OK, I figured that. Thank you. So it gives me
Welcome to Wrexham vibes, but without the superstar
owners where I've seen the show I haven't seen
the most recent season, but it really it kind
of goes into the players on the squad What their
personal lives are, you know what their backgrounds
are and then it shows, you know match footage
and and maybe they talk about some coaching perspectives
or Front office perspectives or something like
that. So it's kind of giving me the same vibes
here Which is good and I like that But this is
the only part I didn't like they're only focusing
on like two people each one. So I'm only seeing
one match two teams really, you know, like every
episode where I feel like There's enough room
to show four teams two matches and maybe go into
four players But OK, like I wouldn't find it
hard to handle everything back and forth moving
from person to person because they pretty much
put up the team name on the screen whenever they
jump back and forth between players. Yeah, that's
my only thing right now is it feels like only
eight episodes. Maybe we're not going to see
a lot of people, you know, maybe they've got
just certain ones honed in. I mean, they've got
some people that they haven't talked about in
particular that are speaking or commenting on
the game in these like studio settings. Yeah.
Yeah. That's maybe what the only thing I don't
like is I feel like it's it's it's so limited
in what they're giving me as far as how many
people they're showing backgrounds for. Yeah.
Yeah. OK. Interesting. Also, the latency of the
changes, you notice that the Italian coach is
not Italian. I think he's Australian. or something.
I did notice he wasn't Italian. I think a couple
of the other of the players aren't either. Yeah,
without one Italian guy that they highlighted.
He was from New Zealand. I don't know. Yeah,
something like that. Well, maybe the coach is
from New Zealand and that would make sense, wouldn't
it? Yeah. But yeah, the accent was different.
And yeah, that's another thing. I'm glad that
that guy's girlfriend spoke Italian. in the documentary,
right? Cause I was wondering like, man, they're
showing us Italy, but no one's speaking Italian,
you know? Yeah. I did notice that too. I was
like, you're not from Italy or maybe you live
there, but you're definitely not. We definitely
don't speak Italian. Yeah. So, um, what do you,
what's your call? I haven't looked ahead to the
third episode. Uh, what's your call? What two
teams are they gonna highlight? Probably Ireland
Yeah, I'm probably gonna say Wales because they
haven't shown that okay Yeah, I would go with
those two probably is the next one but yeah,
you know, we'll have to see Maybe they'll circle
back. I Don't know that'll be it'll be sweet
to find out. Yeah, I think if it's I haven't
watched This one I know watched this since the
last season came out so I can't quite remember
but the formula one we were talking about tried
to survive very similar, obviously, just focusing
on Formula One drivers and teams and primaries
and all that stuff. But the episodes, at least
in the beginning, would highlight specific drivers,
specific teams. But then at some point, especially
when it was a big race, it would just talk about
everybody, depending on who was leading, who
was doing not so great, if there were any crashes.
So I wonder if maybe at some point they'll tie
it all together, especially when it Starts to
become like more of like the big championship
season and they'll just kind of blend it all
together and talk about everybody all at once
Yeah, maybe they will do that. I know you mentioned
with that formula one show that there's a lot
of drama this one I feel like there's just based
on the second episode with those two big guys
right going at you know Battling against each
other in the game. I feel like there's a lot
more respect probably between these guys then
there were formula one drivers, but That's an
opinion. I don't know. Yeah, I don't Yeah, I
would say there that you also probably have to
have a lot more respect just because of the way
this sport is like if you're Tackling people
and like essentially manhandling people. I think
it's to some degree like you have to respect
each other immensely To not like really mess
each other up Is there anything you're looking
forward to in the next? six episodes I think
I just want to get to know rugby as a sport more.
Like I'm just looking forward to continuing on
and just learning more about the sport as a whole
through getting to know the players, the team,
the dynamics, and then just seeing the matches
more just because I went into it understanding
what rugby is, but not really having an idea
of the ins and outs of it. Yeah. So we've seen
three teams so far. Who's your favorite team
out of those three? I have this. I don't want
to say it's an issue, but I feel like when I
if I ever watch a show or something like this,
whatever first team comes on, I have like an
emotional connection to. So at this point, it's
not not a bad team to root for there. So all
right. That's good. That's good. Yeah, but we'll
see how I feel next time Yeah, we'll see how
it goes as it continues. I'm excited about it
to like you said just To keep learning a little
bit more because they're probably gonna give
us some insights throughout I don't know. I don't
know a ton about rugby but enough to know what
a try is So for everyone listening a try if anyone
says it that in rugby uh terms it's like a touchdown
in american football right and then there's a
point after attempt where they kick the ball
through the uprights as well so some similarities
that are happening there between american football
and rugby but uh yeah i'm excited about continuing
to to see more footage um maybe it'll just help
me think a little bit more critically about how
to train that sport or how to train other sports
or just maybe take key concepts away or help
me to deep dive into different theoretical areas
of strength and conditioning. So I'm excited
to keep watching it, see these guys, you know
who they are as people on the background. I think
that the one guy from England in the second episode,
he kind of reminded me of the world's strongest
man, Eddie. the beast oh really yeah he reminded
me of him just a little bit because i've seen
a documentary about him and you know they're
both from england from these like these smaller
towns and whatnot and so that's kind of just
what it reminded me of when i was watching it
but uh but pretty pretty cool so far uh i'm excited
to see the other part uh shout out to uh my ga
grace morgan for recommending the documentary
so we'll see grace yeah I'm excited. I hope everyone
else continues to watch this. Maybe watch all
eight and see if we even know what we're talking
about, be ahead of the game. We'll pick back
up on this one in a couple of weeks as we shift
back to our normal strength conditioning and
nutrition topics. So thanks for listening, everybody.
We will catch you on the next one. See ya.