The Northern Rugby Podcast

Darren chats to Premiership Rugby legend Jimmy Gopperth, who has had spells in Super Rugby, Premiership Rugby and the Pro14 as well.

After representing the Hurricanes and the Blues in Super Rugby and earning honours for the New Zealand U21's & Junior All Blacks, Jimmy moved to the North East with Newcastle Falcons, being the league top scorer in 3 of his 4 seasons and helping the club to win promotion back to the Premiership following relegation in 2012.

He then moved across to Leinster to fill the shoes of Johnny Sexton who had left for France, and picked up a Pro12 Winners medal in his first season following a final win over Glasgow. He has since moved back to England with Wasps where he has won a Premiership Player of the Year award as well as helping Wasps to 2 Premiership Finals.

Jimmy talks us through playing rugby all over the world, adapting to the English style of rugby, playing against the Lions with the Hurricanes, Barbarians honours and his plans for the future. A good chat with a really top guy, come have a listen.

Darren chats to former Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks & Leicester Tigers man Mathew Tait.

Tait became a sensation when he broke on the scene in 2004, becoming England's 2nd youngest capped player since WW2 when he was selected against the Welsh in the 2005 6 Nations. After an infamous debut where he was outshone by the mercurial Gavin Henson, he reclaimed his England spot and helped them to the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final, making a line break that ended in possibly the most controversial call in RWC Final history.

Mat also chats to us about his club career, starting out as a fresh faced teenager with the Falcons, before leaving for an injury hit spell at Sale Sharks. After a disappointing spell in Manchester, Mat rediscovered his form and reinvigorated his career after a move to Leicester Tigers, where he won the 2013 Premiership title and lifted the 2017 Anglo Welsh cup as captain.

An accomplished 7’s player as well, Mat discusses his time on the England 7’s circuit culminating in a trip to the 2006 Commonwealth games where he picked up a Silver medal. 

A really interesting chat discusses a fantastic career, come have a listen.

Darren & Pete chat with former Scotland, Edinburgh Rugby & Newcastle Falcons Number 8 Ally Hogg. 

Ally represented Scotland 48 times during his career and also racked up 257 career club appearances, scoring 42 tries in total.

We talk to Ally about getting started in rugby with Edinburgh, breaking into the Scotland team in 2004 at 21 years old, being considered for the Lions tour in 2005, falling out of favour with Andy Robinson as Scotland coach, and his move to England with Newcastle Falcons.

We discuss a difficult beginning to his Falcons career, which resulted in relegation in 2012, followed by an immediate return to the Premiership under Dean Richards in 2013. Ally also talks about the Falcons fantastic run to the playoffs in 2018, in which he played a massive part with some very important tries. 

Finally we chat about the state rugby currently finds itself in, what a successful season would look like for Newcastle Falcons and a potential future career in coaching. Let’s get into it and see what Ally had to say.

Darren (no Pete this week) chats with Newcastle Falcons most capped Hooker Matt Thompson.

Matt talks us through what it was like joining the Newcastle Falcons academy at a time when his Father Dave Thompson had just purchased the club. We discuss Matt's early years at the Falcons, including his debut in a heavy defeat down in Newport in the Heineken Cup, and being thrown in the deep end during his first season due to an injury crisis.

We also discuss the Falcons 2004 Powergen Cup Final win, in one of the best cup finals in modern memory. Matt also tells us what it was like to represent to England Saxons and win the Churchill Cup on home soil. He also tells us why despite a heavy defeat, the Heineken Cup QF defeat to Stade Francais is one of his best memories at the Falcons.

After helping the Falcons to win promotion back to the Premiership in 2013, Matt went to ply his trade with Ealing before finishing off with Blaydon RFC back in the North East. We also discuss Matt's venture into boxing and what he's doing with himself in retirement.

Darren & Pete chat with Newcastle Falcons Legend Tom May. 

Tom is the Falcons record appearance holder as well as their record try scorer, and also represented Northampton Saints and London Welsh in the Premiership, as well as a spell with Toulon in France.

We chat through how Tom ended up at the Falcons and the role he played in helping them to win trophies in 2001 & 2004, playing as part of a young generation of talent including Jonny Wilkinson & Jamie Noon, and his disappointment at not amassing more England caps. We also hear how close Tom was to heading to rugby league following his spell with the Falcons, before he decided to head for sunnier climes in France.

Following a move to Toulon, Tom talks to us about life in France, how demanding French fans can be, and the disappointment of losing the 2010 Challenge Cup final from a winning position against Cardiff. He also talks to us about his move back to England with Saints, Dylan Hartley’s red card in the 2013 Premiership final, and a controversial return to Kingston Park as a Saints player.

We also talk about Tom's last hurrah with London Welsh as he captained them back to the Premiership against the odds. We of course finish with the customary Ultimate XV, which is a belter as you'd expect. Good chat with a top bloke, come have a listen.

Darren & Pete chat with former Newcastle Falcons, Edinburgh Rugby & Harlequins winger Tim Visser. The Flying Dutchman was also a Scotland International, amassing over 30 caps and also representing the Barbarians in a 2011 victory over England.

Tim talks us through what it was like moving to the North East as a young, naive import from Holland. He also describes how Falcons coaches at the time thought he was a back row player, so in an alternate universe Tim Visser the try machine has been replaced by Tim Visser the speedy ball carrying number 8! We chat through his reasons for leaving Newcastle and heading for new pastures up North at Edinburgh, and his incredible try scoring record there.

Tim also talks about his Barbarians experience and gives us one of the funniest stories you're likely to hear on this podcast, I won't spoil it just have a listen!

We discuss Tim's decision to represent Scotland, his try scoring debut away at Fiji and a legendary home debut against the All Blacks where he also bagged himself a few tries.

Finally we finish up with the move back to England with Harlequins, thoughts on the controversial 2016 Challenge Cup Final, and his decision to retire at a relatively young age. The Ultimate XV rounds things off as usual, so come and have a listen.

Darren & Pete chat with former Wasps, Connacht, Newcastle Falcons & Leinster man Mike McCarthy about his long and succesful career in rugby.

Mike talks us through breaking through in a star studded Wasps side coached by Warren Gatland, before moving across the water to Connacht for the promise of more regular playing time. He soon heads back across to the mainland after he is picked up by Newcastle Falcons and spends 3 good years on Tyneside endearing himself to the Falcons fans. When new management come into Kingston Park Mike decides the time is right to head back to Ireland with Connacht and start thinking about the Ireland National team. Following a 2nd spell with Connacht Mike heads to Leinster where he manages to pick up a Pro14 Winners medal in his first season.

Mike also talks us through his International exploits with Ireland, including that heartbreaker of a game against New Zealand in 2013. 

As usual, we finish up with Mike naming his Ultimate XV, and it's a good one...come have a listen. 

Darren (no Pete this week) chats with Newcastle Falcons legend Jamie Noon about his impressive career.

Jamie talks me through breaking through to the Falcons first team and feeling like an imposter while doing so, how Inga the Winger helped him settle into the squad, and how important that Tetley's Bitter Cup Final was to him. We also hear about Jamie's first taste of international rugby on the 2001 Summer Tour of North America. As we continue through the years we hear Jamie discuss another cup win for the Falcons in 2004 (and a marriage proposal!), breaking into the England first team and an amazing hat trick against Scotland in the 6 Nations, and his disappointment at not receiving the call for Lions duty in 2005.

Jamie also talks us through the 2007 World Cup and what it meant to represent his country on the highest stage. He also talks being tempted to France by Andy Goode and why he has stayed there in retirement.

A great chat with a top guy, have a listen.

Darren & Pete chat with USA International Nick Civetta about his rugby career so far and the development of rugby in the USA.

Nick chats to the guys about starting to play rugby in his college days after being a late-comer to the game, and dropping everything to go and chase the rugby dream in Italy. That dream then led him over the England with the Newcastle Falcons, earning him a call to the National side where he has won 2 Americas Rugby Championships, and was also part of the USA team who beat Scotland in 2018 (their first ever win over a Tier 1 Nation in the professional era).

We also discuss Nick heading to Oxford later this year and looking forward to playing varsity rugby, his 2019 World Cup experience with the USA as well as his thoughts on Major League Rugby and how it can be further developed.

Darren & Pete chat with Aussie hero Matt Burke about his legendary career.

Matt talks the guys through the shock of turning professional in the mid nineties and how he ended up with the New South Wales Waratahs. He also tells us about his World Cup experiences; from being young and impressionable in South Africa 1995, to a record haul of 25 points in the final in 1999, to the disappointment of losing to England in 2003. The guys also discuss the 2001 Lions Series as Burke helped Australia to come from 1-0 down and turn the series around giving Australia a 2-1 victory and their first ever victory over the Lions. Darren just had to mention that try by Brian O'Driscoll though...

Matt tells us why he decided to come across to England when he did, why he chose the Newcastle Falcons as his club and what he loved about his time there. Hint, it was not the weather. We finish up with Matt's Ultimate XV and as you'd expect, there are some all time names in that lineup. 

Darren & Pete chat to Ollie Stedman, ex Leeds/Yorkshire Carnegie, Newcastle Falcons, London Welsh, Doncaster Knights & Ealing Trailfinders Number 8 about his life in rugby so far. Ollie takes us through his time as a young man coming through the Carnegie academy, and being part of an England U20 setup which included British & Irish Lions superstars like the Vunipola's, Owen Farrell, George Ford & Elliot Daly. He then had to find his feet at Tynedale rugby club before Dean Richards offered him a chance at Newcastle Falcons, who he helped to the Championship title in the 2012/13 season. The following year he was promoted again, this time with London Welsh where he tells us how the underdogs were able to topple the much more fancied Bristol to get to the Premiership. 

As a veteran of Championship rugby Ollie gives some fantastic insight into how the league has developed during his time there, why he thinks it has gotten worse since the removal of the playoffs, and how he thinks it can still thrive even if ring-fencing is brought in.