Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

Winning is loud. Development is quiet. And in school rugby, the noise can crush the very kids we are trying to help. I sit down with Roddy Dean, one of Scotland’s leading schoolboy rugby coaches and longtime Director of Rugby at Merciston Castle School, to unpack what actually builds a lasting coaching culture, especially when expectations, parents, and tradition all pull in different directions.

We get into Roddy’s Borders upbringing and how being surrounded by elite players and strong community values shaped his discipline, humility, and leadership. From there, we dig into what he calls a real coaching superpower: observation. Not “watching film” observation, but noticing the kid who is off, the teammate who is acting out, or the player who needs an arm around the shoulder before it becomes a bigger issue. Roddy connects emotional intelligence, relationships, and standards with a simple test: how do you behave when you think no one is watching?

Then we go practical. Roddy explains the “golden triangle” that aligns coach, parent, and player, why multi-sport development beats early specialization for most young athletes, and how tours and community experiences can educate for life, not just rugby. We also break down how Merciston shifted from chasing trophies to focusing on process and pathways, and why fun is not a bonus but the foundation for performance.

If you coach youth sports, lead a school program, or parent a young athlete, you’ll leave with frameworks you can use this week. Subscribe, share with a coach who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
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A packed stadium, free entry, a brand-new team built across borders, and a cold email that ends with Northampton Saints landing in Colombo. We talk with Saabir Cader, the founder behind the Asian Pacific Lions, about how Sri Lanka rugby became the perfect home for a world-class showcase and why belief matters more than permission when you’re trying to build something that doesn’t exist yet. If you care about rugby culture, sports leadership, and what it takes to create opportunity, this story hits hard. 

We dig into the side of Sri Lanka that many rugby fans never see: a school rugby ecosystem drawing thousands of supporters, a proud 147-year rugby history, and a national culture that unites through adversity. Then we get honest about the bottleneck after schoolboy rugby, where huge participation doesn’t automatically become club rugby, professional pathways, or high performance systems. Saabir shares what changed after COVID, how corporate backing affects player development, and why smarter structures are essential for Asian rugby and Pacific rugby to keep more talent in the game. 

From there, it’s the nuts and bolts of making a major event happen: securing sponsors, earning trust without a track record, assembling players from Japan, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond, and building a team culture in weeks. We also talk about bringing in legends like David Campese, what World Rugby could do differently to support developing rugby nations, and Saabir’s long-term plan to connect education with elite rugby opportunities so even one young player can break through. 

If you enjoyed this, subscribe to Coaching Culture, share this with a rugby mate, and leave a review so more people can find stories about building the game the right way. What part of Saabir’s approach would you copy first?
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A captain’s job gets real when the message is hard and the stakes are higher than one person’s pride. Jamie Henry joins us to talk about the uncomfortable side of professional rugby: selection, disappointment, and the quiet way a results-driven environment can make players feel like decisions are personal. We dig into what actually earns respect inside strong teams, why “no one is bigger than the team” only works when it shows up in daily behavior, and how leaders keep trust intact when not everyone gets what they want. 

Jamie’s story runs through Japanese rugby culture, where respect, elders, and the group come first. He shares how the senpai kohai dynamic shaped him, and why he chose to redefine respect on the field as full-blooded effort, not hesitation. That one shift has big implications for multicultural squads, communication under pressure, and building a shared standard without erasing anyone’s identity. 

Then we go deep on the Asia Pacific Lions, a new Asia Pacific rugby project designed to create real professional rugby pathways for Asian players outside Japan. Jamie explains the mission, what it is like captaining a team that includes seasoned international stars, and how the Lions pulled off an inaugural match in Colombo, Sri Lanka against Northampton Saints. We also explore Sri Lanka as an underrated rugby hotbed and what success should look like ten years from now: Asian players earning chances in top leagues because this platform existed. 

If you care about rugby leadership, team culture, and growing the game across Asia, hit subscribe, share this with a rugby mate, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
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What if the strongest teams aren’t built by hype, slogans, or “high performance” talk, but by a few clear rituals everyone can count on? I sit down with Dave Askew, deputy principal and First XV coach at Auckland Grammar School, to get a behind-the-scenes look at how one of New Zealand’s most storied schoolboy rugby programs builds culture that holds up under pressure.

We talk about the daily assembly as the “big hall” that creates belonging, recognition, and a shared start line for 2,000-plus boys. Dave explains why predictability and tradition matter, especially for students who don’t have stability at home, and how a consistent structure can unlock confidence and ambition. From there we get practical with “school rules plus one,” the idea that representing a premier team is a privilege and that leadership starts with doing the basics better than anyone else.

We also challenge the language that creeps into youth sport. Dave avoids the term “high performance” because of the pressure it puts on teenagers and the way it can scare off volunteer coaches. Instead, we explore “high care” as a better north star, along with a Plan A versus Plan B approach that keeps education and long-term career options at the center while still supporting big sporting dreams. If you coach school sports, lead a team, or care about building resilience and anti-fragility, you’ll take away tools you can use immediately.

Subscribe for more conversations on coaching culture, share this with a coach or parent who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: how do you define success when your team loses?
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Rugby can fill a stadium. Culture can shape a life. We sit down with Sean Erasmus, head coach at Paul Boys High School, to unpack what it takes to build a values-led rugby program inside one of the most tradition-heavy environments in the world. His core idea is simple and demanding: culture is a living thing, and if we do not feed it and prune it every day, it drifts into something we never intended.

We get specific about what that looks like with schoolboys who face modern pressure that previous generations never had to carry: social media commentary, public hype, agents, contracts, and criticism that follows them home. Sean explains why banning phones is fantasy, how to talk about Instagram and TikTok head-on, and how to keep a teenager’s identity from swinging with every compliment or pile-on. He also makes the case for vulnerability in leadership: when we are willing to be real in front of the boys, they learn they can be real with us.

Then we zoom out to the system side of coaching culture and rugby leadership: how you scale consistent standards across dozens of teams, how you “coach the coaches,” and why you should match coaching styles to each age group’s needs. We also tackle the hardest stakeholder question in schoolboy rugby: parents. Sean shares a clear framework for respectful conversations, honest selection feedback, and boundaries that protect families on both sides.

If you care about team culture, schoolboy rugby, leadership, and developing young men in a high performance environment, this one will stay with you. Subscribe, share it with a coach or parent, and leave a review if it hits home. What’s one value you wish every coach would lead with?
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How to be a great coach Book Vol 2 is out on Amazon now
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