Episode 010- Building a high performance team with Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock knows a thing or two about building successful teams; To mention a few, Swansea beating the then World Champion Wallabies in 1992, The welsh Grand slam winning team of 2005, a dominant Lansdowne side in the top tier of AIL rugby and all the way to successful teams in his current business career.

Rory and Rudds spoke to Mike about the importance of task cohesion and social cohesion in building a winning environment, using plenty of Mike’s stories from “The Good Old Days” of Welsh Rugby for reference.

Mike opens up on how his career was ended early after a horrific accident where he was knocked off a ladder resulting in a fractured skull and a back that was no longer fit to play ball. We hear the inspiring story of how Mike said his goal out loud of one day wanting to coach Wales if he couldn’t play for them on his way to the hospital before his recovery had even begun. Very inspiring stuff!

The guys also have a lot of fun discussing Big Mikes current training regime and how you are never too old to make a change and get fit. Mike talks about how he fell out of shape from spending too much time in front of a computer and sitting in a car, something we can all relate to.

Fun Fact – Mike also held the bench press record in Leinster Rugby when he was coaching there back in the day, we hear the story of how he made Emmet Byrne the second strongest man in Leinster.

Enjoy.