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 are wrapping up Six Nations
Full Contact, our review of this entire series
going over episode seven and eight today. um
i'm talking about the champs from a couple of
years ago you know uh so first of all i just
want to put it out there if you listen to our
last one we kind of predicted who we thought
it was going to be claire you were right you
called it ireland they were the winners i got
to stick with my people that's right you know
but what's crazy is like um the french team like
i predicted they were there right they were they
were both just kind of neck and neck So to kind
of start us off, going through both the episodes
here, we saw early on that the show really started
to highlight a couple of different players. Scotland's
Stuart Hogg. And then I know as we get towards
the end of it, Ireland's Johnny Sexton. Yeah,
which I mean, they're both great players who,
interestingly enough, both retired after the
season in this documentary. But one of the things
that kind of stood out when they were going with
Stuart Hogg is just. I think he was riding a
horse in one of the episodes at his farm, and
then they went to like this house where he was
with his dad and they were talking about growing
up and stuff like that, but was just. how long
he has played in the Scottish rugby system and
also they went through some of his like injury
stuff like man that dude's beaten up from the
When he started playing I think for Scotland
for like the nation when he was like 19 or something
like that and then continued on to play but when
they showed a couple footage where he was like
taped up he was in the pool doing some movement,
like active recovery type of stuff. So I thought
that was cool to go and see somebody who was
really kind of a seasoned vet. Didn't necessarily
go the same way when they were showing Johnny
Sexton, but I remember when the two of them played,
they both had really key injuries at the end,
which kind of led into the final. game of the
season, which was like I know Stuart Hogg had
to come off because they also had his replacement,
his backup on the Oh, he had a crazy name and
I can't remember off the top of my head. But
anyways, so they were showing his backup quite
a bit, you know, and how talking about how skilled
he was and he didn't get the cap because Stuart
Hogg got his 100th cap. And, you know, I think
For me personally, like I think that was good
for them to give him that 100 start, you know
for his country So that's a big -time deal for
it guys have been in it for that long or that
close Can you imagine he retired after 99? I
don't know. Would he have retired after 99 you
think? Who knows because he wouldn't have gotten
hurt in that game. So he actually may have started
the next week so interesting to think about the
scenario that could have been but Oh, yeah, if
he retired and he had 99 I think he'd probably
be upset with the organization for a while, you
know and Probably just be a little frustrated.
But yeah I thought those two different dynamics
where they were showing us some veteran players
and kind of like their Battles and their importance
to the team and stuff like that was good for
me to see and in episode seven And then then
we got to eight and it was you know crunch time
we're looking at championships and you know fall
out from other games and stuff like that so um
we were kind of talking off air about nutrition
stuff i wanted to bring up some of the quote
-unquote nutrition elements that i saw uh and
maybe rightfully so because we're in the locker
room did you see the the food and and refueling
stations that they kind of had there like hydration
area they had a couple of tables like it was
like during halftime in the locker room and it
was like walking out for warm -ups or walking
out for the game I swear they had like fruit
and all different types of I don't know bowls
trays of stuff like I couldn't tell what most
of it was but the fruit I knew it was fruit obviously
um I thought that was interesting to see there
um As being like seriously some of the most highlighted
nutritional elements that we got in this series,
right? Maybe I wonder if I maybe skipped over
it because that to me is just like routine because
that's what we do in American football or at
least my experience with it At the collegiate
level is that's what we had at halftime. We had
two big folding tables There were snacks. We
had dietitians and interns walking around with
trays of snacks trying to get guys to eat stuff
at halftime. Um, so I, I mean, I remember that
pretty clearly, like food was readily available,
which I think it should be. So it was, it was
kind of nice to see that, that, you know, they
had like a similar system to try and make sure
that these players are able to last throughout
the whole game. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, really, really
tough, tough hole like match to go from first
half, second half, and just all of the the bruising
and the non -stop movement that they have to
do, you know, it's incredible. Yeah, and it being
so, so physical. Oh yeah, it's incredible, right?
You think about, even when they get into like
little scrums, it's, you're pushing at a really
high force amount, right? Or just holding, you
know, isometrically to be able to hold position
before the ref signals go. But anyways, yeah,
it was interesting that I think we called this,
right? Where it wasn't going to be as much of
as we wanted to see, right? We want to see like
more of this stuff, right? So they brought sports
psychology in quite often, right? Early in that
episodes three or four, they introduced it and
started to like have them there, which was interesting
because from a holistic approach, right? That's
part of it, right? And so we're seeing pieces,
but we didn't really get, we got training. um
like strength conditioning training early on
too but i think that's probably how shows for
sports fans go like not for like professionals
right they show you that stuff early and then
like later they just want the drama of the sport
itself and more about the players yeah it does
it was still it was still a good watch i enjoyed
I enjoyed watching it and they are coming out
with another season of it. So that'll be interesting
to see. Oh, and they fit the 2024 season. Yeah.
So that'd be interesting to see kind of, kind
of some of the storylines happening in that one.
So yeah. As the games went along, Oh, let's,
let's go back. Let me not pass over this. You
did mention that you saw or you heard them speak
about a nutritionist in one of the episodes before
they were about to travel or something like that.
Yeah, I can't remember which team it was. I remember
it being a woman's name. My memory is so bad,
but just the coach reminding them to make sure
all their meals were set with Kelly, like, or
I think that's what they said, Kelly, you know,
make sure you know what your breakfast needs
to look like. Make sure you know what your meals
need to look like so that we can, you know, have
all of the pieces. of the puzzle in place and
we're ready to go and there's no questions about
anything. So I did appreciate that because up
until that point, it was kind of unclear unless
we maybe did our own research. If they had any
sort of nutrition support, if there was something
on staff, if they were contracting with someone,
are the players supposed to just figure that
out on their own? Didn't know. So I think that
kind of alluded to the fact that probably most
of these teams have some sort of nutrition support
on staff. Yeah, which is great because they need
it. And then we also looked up for sure that
some of the teams have nutritionists on staff.
So until the last episode, though, was really
where a lot of anticipation was, particularly
on the part of France. France went into their
last game and they won rightfully so and they
won a fifth point or something right like they
got They won that fifth. Yeah, they won that
bonus point Which was big for them because they
needed that And then they were just waiting in
the locker room Afterwards and they were watching
that England Ireland game and they needed England
to win and what was crazy about that England
Ireland game is that One of the players for England
his dad coached Ireland in that game. So his
father coaching against son And I think that
father won Six nations when he was a player for
England, they did show some old old pictures
of that Anyways, yeah, that was an interesting
storyline Johnny Sexton playing in that game
was an interesting storyline because he had gotten
injured and they weren't sure about it. Yep.
So yeah, I was just and then obviously Ireland
ended up winning. Yeah, one of the England English
players got a red card. Yeah, but you saw like
it got got overturned. Yeah, got overturned afterwards,
like maybe like after the game, like maybe a
few days later, something like that. Interesting,
because what does that mean? Like, does a red
card in rugby mean you're out for like multiple
games and it gets overturned and you're like,
you can start the next season? Like, I don't
what is that overturning mean? Because the game
is over. The season's over. Yeah. No, what is
that effect? I guess I don't know. So if I'm
not mistaken from me watching Welcome to Wrexham
with this is in soccer, though. OK, so I would
assume some similar rules apply to cards. If
you're given a yellow card, I think you pay a
small, I think you pay a fine and you just can't
get another one the next game or else you'll
have to miss, right? If you get a red card, you're
obviously suspended for the next game. I think
you probably end up with some type of fine as
well, but I wonder if, if they had another game,
he wouldn't be able to play, right? But I think
maybe the main thing is you're immediately disqualified
from the game, which I really didn't like because
Ireland they had a guy get a red card early in
the game and they were playing yeah they did
they were playing down and England had some advantage
right and then that happened and now it was even
it was neck and neck again and it was just uh
oh it wasn't good for England right they needed
the more they needed more opportunities yeah
um yeah so it was just unfortunate how that kind
of played out for them Although that game was
much closer than the French game. I feel like
that one was kind of like the game right before
the French playing. Who did they play? Wales.
I feel like that was kind of like when I was
at Florida State and we weren't very good at
the time and we would play Clemson and you could
just tell that they were much better than us.
Yeah, I mean it was. I think they handled it
pretty well at the end, right? I think they went
up a few scores and kind of separated from them
as the game went on. But yeah, that England -Ireland
game stayed pretty intense, I think, throughout
the most part. But then I think later on, once
they got even again. Yeah. Irish pulled away
a bit. Yeah, they did. Actually, I take that
back. I think England got the red card first
and then Ireland got one later. uh but it was
it was too late at that point because they were
playing a man down and it was just like you couldn't
fill all the gaps or you know have everyone you
know man on man so they had obviously had the
advantage into scoring points so yeah it was
interesting that it got overturned later on um
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a demo. Let's go! Johnny Sexton retired. Kieran,
the Italian coach who's Australian. That guy,
they didn't renew his contract. Interestingly
though, the Welsh coach pledged four more years.
Warren Gatlin, I think is his name. I thought
that was really interesting that they gave him
four more years. They only won one match and
that was against Italy. And his wife said that
then I think it was, I know you love a good challenge.
So yeah. Well, he's up for it because he's got
a long way to go. He does. I mean, but they were
so good early on when he was there. Oh, yeah.
Gosh, the fly half for Scotland. He became the
first million dollar rugby player. Finn Russell,
Finn Russell, that's his name. Yeah, I think
he was one of the first ones highlighted in the
whole series. Yeah, yeah, because they did the
offensive guys or the fly halves, the two marquees
early on. Who else? The big Italian guy that
speaks really good English. I can't think of
his name right now. Oh, yeah, the South African
or the he's from Zimbabwe or something. But yes,
Italian team. yeah he got he got engaged which
is great because they were kind of showing us
a little bit of that relationship early on um
what what else what else am i missing here from
the closing uh what happened what happened next
part of the show other the scottish player that
retired because of his needs yeah yeah i think
that was i think that was about it Oh, and then
they showed at the end the French French coach
he was like, you know, they they wanted they
were really Focused on yeah really focused on
winning next year Yeah, okay, so out of all of
those Storylines that we saw With what storyline
that they didn't show you are you interested
in knowing about? That's a good question. I think
overall in terms of like highlighting players,
they did a good job. So I'm going to go back
to storyline in the sense of more behind the
scenes of like what the players do day to day
with their training and nutrition and recovery
and kind of the nitty gritty stuff that I would
want to see that Maybe not everybody else would,
but at least highlight it a little bit more,
I would say. Yeah, I agree. I think that they
were missing maybe... Do you remember any interviews
with any strength coaches? Like even a couple
of words or something? No. I mean, they might
have shown their faces when they were in the
weight room, but even the weight room, it wasn't
like... They never really talked about... their
training it was just kind of like yeah we go
in the weight room like two times a week or whatever
or if i'm angry i go in the weight room and lift
some more and that's how i blow off steam but
that was about it it was not really talking about
like um a lot of the the programming or like
the thought process behind it or like if there's
anything particular that the strength conditioning
coaches do I think that would be interesting
to see just to kind of compare for the viewer
team to team like maybe what is Ireland doing
that Italy's not or what is France doing that
Wales isn't maybe even off the field and in practice
and outside of like coaching and players that
would be interesting for me to see because To
us, I think that plays a huge role in separating
a good team from a great team. Yeah, I think
even to get an interview from a dietitian or
one of their strength coaches or whatever the
title is that they have for them would be good
because I would want to hear them talk about
what those players need to do or need to eat.
Yeah. to be able to play rugby at a high level.
I think that would be important information or
at least valuable information for people watching
to know is like, oh, OK, so that sport, they
need to do blah, blah, blah. You know, I think
that would that would be interesting, even if
it's like. Within the first first half of the
episodes, right, it's just a couple of minutes,
you know, here or there. Exactly because then
you're kind of setting it up and by like the
last four episodes you're kind of getting into
like the more anticipation of the championship.
But also obviously might be different if there's
different players maybe there's new obviously
some like Italy needs a new coach so they would
be interviewing those people but otherwise it
would just be the same thing over again and you
know after a while that can get. Kind of boring
if you're just watching the same thing over and
over again You've got to add I feel like they
should add different components just to keep
it a little bit more entertaining and Differentiate
it from the first season Right. I know that they're
gonna have new players right for the guys who
retire they're gonna be Injecting the new people
and what it's like for them to be now the top
person on each team so There'll be some continued
drama of what happened, what we saw from the
first season and stuff. So hopefully they will
add some different elements that they didn't
have last season. So I don't know, we'll see.
But okay, so at the end of episode eight, when
they were giving all the like, this is what this
person's doing now, this is what this person's
doing now type of thing. They only gave us a
few were there any other people that you wanted
to know about that they didn't show you Hmm I'm
trying to think I Don't think they really highlighted
any of the French players But maybe there was
nothing noteworthy to mention of you know, they're
just kind of coming back for next year So maybe
that's why they didn't do that. But that stood
out to me that there were no French players at
the end. But like I said, maybe they just didn't
have any noteworthy life events or career changes
or retirement that it was not worth noting. Yeah,
there was a Welsh player. He was an older guy.
I'm trying to think about the guy's name. Off
the top of my head. He's an older guy. He had
been there for I know it's so bad when that happens,
but Anyways, there was a Welsh player who was
older who had been there I think for their last
championship in 2019 I wanted to know that guy
retired or not. And also I wanted to know if
that Younger kid that they highlighted if he
was like gonna be more consistent and starting.
Those were a couple of things that I really wanted
to know because I think obviously French coach
secure, Irish coach secure. England's probably
fine too. Probably secure even though they had
the like last minute get that guy because the
other person left. Right. Yeah, Scottish coach,
good shape. So I'd be I was really interested
to know about those couple of players because
everyone else I felt like is gonna return right
you talked about I think even the Italian kid
that was actually from Wales, but his grandparents
are from Italy I think he's gonna be fine Mm
-hmm French players are all good. I think all
the Besides the people who retired they'll be,
you know, all fine and whatnot. So I was really
just interested in those couple of players. But
yeah, I'm glad that they I think it really adds
some different element that they showed us that
that red card got overturned. That was that was
an interesting thing was like, wow, you know,
in probably in England's mind, they're thinking
that they don't make that call. we win that game
right you know as soon as they got the news for
that they were like you gotta be kidding me we
lost that game because of a bad call or a call
they got overturned yeah that's always that's
always hard but that's part of part of the game
that is and so um it'll really kind of play into
the motivation that england has for next year
when they play them i mean i shouldn't say for
next year for this past year when they played
them. So I'm sure some internal motivation was
happening from that result. Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I'd be upset. No doubt. All right, Claire.
So what would you say summing up the entire documentary?
Would you? recommend who is your favorite team
that they covered? You know, or like what was
one of your most enjoyable moments from watching?
I think overall it was good. I think they did
a good job of showing the personal lives of the
players, their professional life as athletes,
the coaching staff, kind of the team dynamics.
And I think that played really well into what
they were trying to convey and then also have
us have a better understanding of what was going
on on the field and kind of the team dynamics
and the rivalries and such. So I think they did
a really good job. I enjoyed it. I don't know
that one moment stands out to me. I think just
in general, I really enjoyed watching the matches.
Um, I feel like just that increased intensity
and kind of like anxiety of like anything could
happen. Who's going to get hurt. Um, just was
interesting to watch because you don't know what's
going to happen. You know, like going into it,
you could say, yes, this team is better, but
anything could happen. And it's really anybody's
game if somebody were to get hurt or somebody
gets ejected from a red card. So I really enjoyed
watching the matches having not known who was
going to win and what happened that year. Yeah,
it was great too. I thought they also did a great
job with just how they presented it. Some of
the camera angles during the matches were great
because you don't really see them because I watched
this past season. So you don't always get those
views and that was nice that they brought all
these different Backstories and personal lives
and things so you you honestly felt like you
got to know this Player as a human being a little
bit more and you probably connected in some way
or another to these people. So Yeah, I also agree.
I think one of my most memorable moments it's
like Kind of later on when they got into more
technical elements of the sport because I don't
know the sport as well I'm like that I Would
say maybe I'm just one step ahead of a casual
fan I'm not like a die -hard fan or anything,
but I act I actually like to watch it and I know
like about what time that those those games come
on on Eastern time in the States so I Enjoy watching
them. I really do. I just I enjoyed learning
a little bit more about it and kind of what these
coaches have to go through when they're coaching
and what the players you know maybe just is me
being a former football player, just being able
to relate to kind of like what these guys are
dealing with from a context or perspective. So
that thought was great. Honestly, I didn't see
as much snow as I thought I was going to see
in there. And I didn't see as much indoor training
as I thought I was going to see. A lot of people
trained outdoors most of the time. And it was
like over the winter time. So I thought that
was very, very interesting. Yeah. I would definitely
recommend it. I think, you know, you should watch
it and it's only eight episodes. Chances are
you get done watching it and then the other the
other season is going to be out pretty soon.
So you probably watch the other one. You might
even start watching rugby. Who knows? Who knows?
Yeah, who knows? All right. Any closing thoughts?
No, I don't think so. Like we said, it was a
good documentary. If you're interested in learning
more about rugby or just want a good sports documentary
to watch and you've watched all the other ones,
Six Nations is a good one to add to the list.
Definitely. I would definitely recommend that
people watch it, especially if you want to see
something a little outside of what you may normally
have known if you didn't grow up around rugby.
Are there any other sports documentaries out
right now that you're interested in watching?
That's a good question. I don't. I'm not super
aware of a ton that are out, but the a few that
I have. Watched either like previous seasons
or like some of I really like drive to survive
the Formula One. Yeah, that one's. Really good.
I think I liked that one better just because
it's more intense. Not that the stakes are higher,
but I would say the danger and injury level is
higher. If you crash in a particular way, you
could instantly die, unfortunately. There's that
factor to it and there's just like more drama
between The teams because you know, they're all
together every single race. So there's you like
see the tension between the I forget what they're
called, but the Like the owner not the owners,
but the coaches I guess I know they're not called
coaches. I'm forgetting the name So I really
like that one and then What is the golf one?
Full swing, I think it's called. Are you thinking
of crew chiefs? Like pit crew people, like crew
chiefs, like, hey, this is how we need to take
care of your car. No, it's like the head guy.
Manager? I guess it's a manager. Yeah, team manager.
Anyways, yeah, full swing is also one that's
out there that I've heard is pretty good. It's
not one that I necessarily sought out, but I
like caught glimpses of it and I was, I just,
it caught my attention and I'm not a golf person.
So I would definitely rather watch that than
like sit and watch golf. Yeah, true. Cause you
can just get these little elements of it and
get the highlights, right? Yeah. I with golf,
if I'm in person, fine. Like I can totally do
it, but just on TV, it just is not for me. Yeah,
I think the two that are out right now that are
Interesting to me is number one receiver, which
is I think the next part of the It's like the
continuation of the quarterback Document that
they had but focusing on receivers And then there's
another one out called sprint and I don't know
what it's about I'm sure it's about sprinters
because that's what who's on the cover but I
think it's just about maybe the life of a sprinter
and the training and whatnot what it takes to
be the some of the one of the fastest people
in the world so yeah those would be interesting
for sure but I guess we'll get to those when
we get to those huh yeah thanks for listening
everyone we will catch you on the next one see
ya