Welsh Chaos to Gloucester: Jac Morgan & Dewi Lake

0:00Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text.

0:36You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance and some pay as little as$0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across the U.S. offering both virtual and in-person sessions nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability.

1:17and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash start now. That's growtherapy.com slash start now. growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

2:00Welcome along to The Ruck, the journalist's rugby podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times. Alfie here with Will alongside me. Will, on Monday we had our general preview of the Prem season, which gets underway this coming weekend. And we promised extra pods. We're on our travels. Yeah, we're in Gloucester. We've got two of probably the biggest signings in the Prem standing next to us. They're almost blocking out the sun, actually, both wearing black. Should we introduce them? I was wondering if you were about to, but absolutely, people don't want to hear from us. They want to hear from Dowie Lake, Jack Morgan.

2:30Good to see you, lads. Thanks for joining us on the pod. How are you? You go first, come on. Good, thank you. Thanks for having us on. Our pleasure. Dowie, settling in all right? Yeah, very well. It's pretty easy, actually. Gloucester's very similar to back home. So it's been easy to settle in. Also, you've got someone keeping me company here as well, which has made it easier not to kind of move teams on your own. Come up with someone you've known for the last eight to ten years makes things a lot easier as well. So where are you guys based now? How far from home? Not too far. No, not too far.

3:03I'm five minutes from here, which is ideal. Cheltenham way? No, no, I couldn't live in a city or town. I like to be out in the sticks. Right. And then, like, away from everything, drive in if I need to. but I like to be out keep it casual yeah out in the stick so Twigworth I am like five minutes from here is that like farmer country what sort of I don't think so I don't think it's quite farmer country it's literally just past the roundabout up there and there's like a new estate oh happy days so you've got to do all the roadworks we had to go through all the way convenient though what about yourself Jack yeah we're about quarter of an hour I've gone more Chitlam way can be half an hour with that roadworks you mentioned but no it's nice going to try something a little bit different where it's a little bit busier to what I used to do back home I say busy for a lot of people it's probably a quiet city really but it's busy enough for me anyway so enjoying it and enjoying being up here and like Dau says it's helpful being up here with with a friend and someone we played each other for yeah 8 to 10 years now so that's how we made it easier and the other boys that we knew coming up here and the boys there's a good bunch of boys here as well so they've made it easier to to join over the last few weeks and made it really welcoming and yeah, it's like home from home.

4:17Yeah, what's pre-season been like? Because I know a lot of the lads have been in since mid-July. For you guys, end of August, is that right? Yeah, end of August. So it's just been not that long then. So has it been having to get up to speed with loads of stuff, all like really hectic, moving over, settling in, all that sort of thing? Yeah, it was hectic, especially in the first week, in all fairness. I didn't quite get the house, keys to the house in the first week, so I was staying with Dewey in the week, in all fairness. to it on the exchange in completion did you yeah i did i didn't think we were going to when we were away we both were like having troubles and we with with the houses going through and stuff but luckily mine went through just like a week before jack's did so yeah i was lucky enough to have a bed and there we was in the week all of a sudden get a text message saying we're in carbonara me and you sat and watched cardiff or exxam didn't we yeah we did we did yeah so how romantic lovely They scream in Alstom when Ruben Caldwell banged Africa.

5:12What side of that divide are you guys on? Cardiff. Swans. Yeah, fine. Swans, yeah. So it gets quite heated. Yeah, nice. Especially the way things are going at the minute. Yeah, yeah. And so tell me the differences of moving from West Wales to here. As you were joking, Jack, for people who come the other way, it's probably much quieter in England here. Whereas for you guys, it's a different vibe coming the other way. What other day-to-day things that are a bit different being this side of the border? Just being able to walk into different places. Walk to a coffee shop and bits like that. Everything's quite close and on your doorstep really.

5:50So that's been a little bit of a change. Because where we grew up is we're not really close to too many places. But it's also nice back home because it's quiet and you've got a nice little community back in the village. But yeah, it's been a nice little change having that and it's being able to, like I said, walk to a coffee shop and walk to a shop and do different bits like that. Is it, Daryl, that slightly more anonymity quite a nice thing? Because you both have captained the country. Obviously, the great obsession in Wales is the rugby. And there's plenty going on over there. Is it quite nice to just sort of slightly more disappear over here?

6:30As you say, you can just go for a coffee, get your hair cut. Yeah, I think as well, it's more having the option to do it. We probably wouldn't really get stopped back home anyway, or in the villages, it's people you know, and it's like people you're easy to have chats to, you wouldn't mind stopping on your way. Whereas over here, to be fair, yet to be stopped really, we like going to do anything. But I think it's having the option to do it here, which like back home, I'm from nearest supermarket or nearest coffee shop, it's like a 15, 20-minute drive. rather than walk outside the house, walk two minutes, and you've got five coffee shops you could choose from.

7:07So I think that's probably what Jack means in terms of we haven't had that option before, where you walk out your front door and there's five coffee shops around you. We're used to jumping in the car to meet boys at a coffee shop that's a 20, 25-minute drive. Or if you're going to do the food shop, you do it on the way home from training because you know the next day it's an half-hour drive to get to the Nero supermarket. it but yeah the the like anonymity bit is quite nice like being able to wander around especially I think like when you go out with partners it is a nice one when you when you go out for some food and uh like you know you're not having to leave them on their own to have a couple of pictures or something like that that's been quite a nice quite a nice bit as well you are coming though to quite a English rugby heartland like you come to this place and play well for a few weeks and you'll soon be having selfies, don't worry about that.

7:58I don't think either of us mind that anyway. It doesn't bother me at all. There's a couple of Gloucester fans, they've been welcoming them, haven't they? Yeah, massively welcoming. They don't ask much of anything about rugby, but they've all been like, oh, welcome to Gloucester and bits like that. So yeah, that's been nice in a couple of things. And we had the open training session and we met a lot of the fans and a lot of the kids and supporters and stuff. So that was pretty good to be able to meet everyone. And just in case anyone is wondering, we would always stop. Yeah, yeah, of course. We're massively open to doing that because we love doing it anyway.

8:33So no skin off our back. You guys kind of touched upon it there, but we were saying before, weren't we, Will, that Gloucester's one of those clubs that still really has that feel of a local club, connected to its local community. You look around here and the vast majority of the advertising is local companies and things like that, which isn't always the case in the game these days. And it sounds like you're already, even though you haven't played a game in the Prem yet, getting a real sense of that in terms of the fan base and the connection of this place with the community. Yeah, definitely. And that's one thing about the club is the history that the club has got.

9:08And yeah, you can see from the supporters, obviously, we met how much the club means to them and how much it means for Gloucester. And it was good to be able to watch the game on the weekend and experience the supporters in the first game. and everybody you speak to has mentioned about the shed, haven't they? And the crowd in the shed and, you know, that's something probably we're both looking forward to playing in front of and experiencing the home crowd there. And you hear boys who talk about how early the supporters go before a game just to get their spot in the shed that they've sat at and stood at for years.

9:41So, yeah, you know, we've learned quite a bit of the history since being here and how much it means for Gloucester. So, yeah, it'll be exciting to be able to experience the home crowd and hopefully play. You see them running in. I don't know if you're ever here early enough, Will, but as a broadcaster, I'm normally here stupidly early. So you see the fans coming in and they're like running down the shed to get to their spot, as you say. I saw a guy that actually I was waiting in reception here and there was a guy who's clearly local. I will not try the accent. Don't worry. Who was asking for his shed ticket, just a single ticket for the bath game in October.

10:17but he just walked up and he was like I've got to get my bath ticket 39 quid I thought it was quite good good value these days when it's like 200 odd for a test match rivalry local rivalry yeah pretty good going in there was that some of the attraction because we can get on to the Welsh stuff in a second but why why now I guess for both of you and why here why the prem like what were the bits Dowie that attracted you to coming over the border and particularly to Gloucester um I think weirdly for me it was actually more to do with myself than anything kind of going on in Wales. I think I'd got to a point at the Ospreys where I'd been there for eight, nine years, was just starting to feel like a little bit comfortable.

10:57And I just decided it was time for change. I wanted to test myself in a new environment, in a new league, wanted to, you know, go somewhere and see if it would make me better, see if it would be tough to adapt, see, like just put myself out of my comfort zone and see if I would learn anything, see if I would pick anything new up I think probably similar for Jack really I think I just I just felt like I'd been stuck in the same place for too long I needed needed something fresh needed a change not that that like where we were was bad I loved my time with the Ospreys like absolutely loved it but just personally for me felt like I needed something new a new challenge like get out of the comfort spot test yourself in something new and like a new environment get to know new people and yeah I hope that that's what this gives me.

11:49Same for you, Jack? Yeah, the same. Like Dow said, love playing the Ospreys, love the coaches, and especially the group of boys that are there, and always thankful of everything they've given. But the opportunity came up to come here and to experience the Prem and play in the league. Like Dow said, you want to challenge yourself in a way. and you always want to try and get better as a player and hopefully this is a great opportunity to be able to do that, to be able to challenge ourselves in this league and experience it. We've spoken to a few boys who've played in the league and they've all said that they've enjoyed it, they've loved it, said that it's a tough fan, but they've really enjoyed it.

12:38So the opportunity to be able to play in this league and experience it and obviously the opportunity to try and get better. And the last few weeks, we've learned so many new things. So, yes, it's been great. And what about the potential of this place in terms of Gloucester? I guess on the pitch, they've had quite a few seasons that have been pretty frustrating. So what's the potential of this team and what you can achieve this season? Yeah, I think there's a lot of potential in this team, especially the way the boys have gone in during the pre-season. And since we've come into training, and you can see that there's a lot of great players here and we're always trying to try and get better.

13:18We're looking forward to the coming season. We know how tough it is going to be coming up against it, but we want to try and be better than what we did last year and play to our full potential. It'll be quite exciting now when the game starts. We've had a good couple of games in the Prem Cup to test ourselves, especially after the pre-season. We're looking forward now to kicking on for the year and hopefully try and be better. But like I said, there's a great bunch of boys here and there's a lot of talent in this squad as well. A lot of great coaches as well. You know, a couple of new coaches will come in this year.

13:52So it's been great to be able to be on the field and train and see the potential and hopefully that'll be good for the season. We've heard that pre-season has been really tough. I know you guys haven't been around for all of it, but have you kind of come in late and the boys are saying like, lads, you're lucky that you've missed some of the weeks that we've had to go through. Yeah, I think even the training sessions we have done have been tough, haven't they? And that's in the midst of game weeks where you know they're probably pulling things back a bit because the boys have got a game on the weekend.

14:23So you can only kind of imagine what the boys have been put through pre-season. But I think the boys said it's tough, but you learn things and you get better and you stress test things. and I think as Jack spoke about where we want to be as a club towards the back end of the season that's kind of what you've got to do you've got to go through those moments because you come out the other side much better for it like when we do get into tough matches we do get into the back end of playoff possibilities you know you've done that work you've banked it, you've been to a tough place and you can do it again in a match On the point you were saying earlier about wanting to test yourself with all of that is there also a nice part of now being here and being settled where you've just got a lot more security like you know this place is going to exist in a few years and stuff for that like can you take us into the it's difficult for both of you to talk about the politics and you've probably done a lot of that over the last few years but what's the day-to-day reality like of being two quite senior welsh players when it has been very uncertain.

15:33How does it affect things day to day on a personal level? Yeah, it's tough. I mean, we had a lot of days last year where we'd kind of go in, some news would be broken, training would be cancelled, there'd be talk of games being off on weekend, you know. Yeah, we were kind of kept in the dark quite a bit as players and I think when things do come to light then and you found out actually people did know a lot A lot earlier, I just didn't tell the playing group. It's quite hard to take. So I think, yeah, like that being kind of out the back of your head is a massive weight off your shoulders because I think me and Jack were in a lot of meetings representing the Ospreys with me through that period.

16:17And that is something that kind of sticks in the back of your head. You're speaking on behalf of a group of 35, 40 boys that you really care about, want them to be secure as well. and you're kind of going in the next day and boys are asking what's the results of it and you don't know yourself yet. It's just like a thingy, but that kind of weighs on you as well. And you're also trying to win on the weekends. Yeah, and then you're kind of still trying to prep, prep yourself as best you can, still trying to do what you do or what coaches expect you to do. And, you know, there's quite a lot to have going on in the background as well as trying to perform, win matches.

16:55and then you like get in find out what you said didn't really go down the way you thought it would yeah so here's the next breaking news and then you like feel like you've let a group of boys down that you care about or it just hasn't gone the way you wanted it's quite a tough thing to to go through and deal with and also for your family i was thinking too like you've all got mums dads brothers sisters uncles and aunts who are probably reading more things than you are because you're trying to avoid it and then go oh what's happening jack what's happening dary like does that weigh on you a bit as well that it's just this constant trawl of news and updates and things like that where you're trying to be like just trying to focus on playing this weekend well we always try to focus on playing and we and you've got to give like like they'll say we're representing the boys and we don't care so much for the boys but you also give credit to the boys about how they could some news was coming out on a monday night and like you say our families were seeing it before and we didn't hear about the news with some bits like that.

17:53So it's difficult, especially when we were going into a game and you've got to give credit to the boys about the way they put the news to the back of their minds and still be able to perform on the Saturday and probably put in, I remember that last year when it happened, or last season, the boys put a hell of a performance in on the weekend after everything that happened in the week and that's full credit to the group that we had. But yeah, it's obviously something that is difficult when it comes out especially when, like Jo said, some people might have known before but never told us and then we're finding out then online in different ways and sometimes it's not fair.

18:33But I've got to put it on the back of mine and play, but hopefully it'll be sorted. How did you do that though? Because I was just thinking as both of you were speaking there, it's an awful lot for you guys to keep on and then still maintain your standards in your actual job. That must have been incredibly difficult to do when you're having to deal with all that at the same time? I think you kind of just do it, really, don't you? You don't think about doing it or, you know, there's no certain way to do it. I think just as we got closer to the game, you had a lot more... That kind of just took over.

19:05Like, you stopped thinking about what was going on and it was like sole focus became the game. And I think that just happened naturally. as Jack said massive credit to everyone who was involved in that year because it was a tough year with stuff going on but to come out on the results the good end of a lot of results that we did off the back of tough news was huge and I think it kind of just happened if anything it was almost a motivator sometimes wasn't it? The news we were given, the way the week was gone was like right, that's a motivator for us to put things into this performance and and I think like it did just end up motivating us more than it held us back when you both made the decision to leave and this is maybe the wrong word to use but was there any sense of guilt about leaving because you were two senior players there captains of Wales and you but do you have to compartmentalize that and go like it's my career I have to do the best for my game, my rugby, my life, my family, and I need certainty.

20:11That's a tough balance, isn't it? Because there's that sort of whole captain going down the ship thing, isn't there, of like, I should be here until whatever the bitter end is. Also, I guess if you guys have had to be the people in the room with those discussions and people ask you what's going on and then you're heading elsewhere. Yeah, you know, it always is tough when you've got decisions like that. and when you are thinking about what you're doing with the future, obviously you weigh up a lot of decisions, but it's more as well, like we spoke about earlier, about the opportunity of being able to come here to play in the league, to try and get better as a player and experience something new.

20:57And rugby sometimes is a short career and you want to take the opportunities whilst they're there. It is tough, especially playing for the Ospreys and growing up in the Ospreys when I was younger and playing there since I was for five years. It's always tough leaving a club you admire so much, as well as the coaches and the players. But it was more of the opportunity as well from a rugby point of thing. I think the hardest thing for me probably for Jack as well is leaving the people like the boys that you become best mates with the coaches that push you into international camps when you thought you might never get a chance at that and I think the hardest thing is you stay because you make incredible bonds with coaches, with players and I think that's the toughest thing to leave really is those people that you've become really good friends with really care about and that's probably the the hardest thing to leave behind i think on a much lighter note you've both got your hair still and we've learned that we talked about this on the sale pod when we were at sale yeah yeah the milk challenge was quite an ominous thing for new recruits but it's gone so both of you've got full heads of hair you've done all right i know i'm quite glad to be honest i'm quite chuffed today we i got big ears i don't know what I would have looked like.

22:27We spent a majority of the summer tour, chat, GBT in, pictures of each other, on how would we look bold, and we were just like, Jack, we can't do it. Like, what are we going to do? So when the news broke, you must have been like, get in there. Yeah, but the other thing was, we also didn't really believe people when the news broke, so we were like, we heard it, and we were like, nah, they're having us on. Like, there's no way, like, we're still going to end up bald here, but no, it's gone, and we get to keep our hair. But yeah, it was a fun summer of chat GPT. Fun for sketchy. I do worry about some lads because, I mean, I can't talk.

23:07But once it's gone sometimes, it's not coming back quickly. If you're on the side of 30. I don't think mine would have. But was it George Skivington replaced it with something else? It's almost like, what is it? The Shed Challenge. Is that right? Yeah, Shed Challenge. And he's brought that in for everybody to do his pairs in the squad. So, yeah, that's something good and fun to be able to do. And it's no milk involved. So the shed is 105 metres. I'll see if I can remember this. It's a sled push with 105 kilos there and back. Is that right? Oh, no, sorry, there. And then flipping a tyre to halfway and then rolling it.

23:47And then sandbags going up and down all the stairs along the shed to finish, right? Yeah, that's it. Did you do it Both of you Or did you manage to I haven't quite done it yet Well done Jack Jack is in the lead Actually aren't you You and Seb Atkinson I was luckily enough To be paired with Seb Atkinson Okay Famously fit Seb Atkinson Yeah Unbelievably fit So I was quite fortunate That I had to be paired up with Seb So who are you going to pick Now that you've got to do it With a pair Who would be your choice I think it's me and John Klein Okay Leavers The two that are Wrong limbs To do it So I think we're going to struggle on the fast portions of the test, but we might be all right on the power bit.

24:27Should there be an adaptation for front rowers? Yeah, not doing it. Because some of the scrum halves are flying out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don't do it. No, I'm quite happy with it. I think it actually equals out, doesn't it? Because you'd think... Yeah, there's power against speed. Yeah, you'd think the prowler, the bigger boys would get it going quicker. But then when you get to walking upstairs, like I'd struggle without a sandbag on my back walking up a set of stairs. so I think it does equal itself out well when you're doing it just think well at least I'm not downing however many pints of milk it was supposed to be at least I keep my hair exactly I was saying to Will beforehand I was like I'd make quite good you know video stuff we're putting things on YouTube and stuff and then I was like not sure I could do that that sounds awful I don't think I could do the hundred and five kilos just do it for the clicks on YouTube or something look lads really great to have you on we'll let you go but really excited to see you play for Gloucester in the Prem it's an exciting year isn't it I mean, you might get a little break at the end of the season, but it kind of rolls straight into the World Cup.

25:23So a big year or so ahead, right? Yes, it's a busy year, especially with joining up here. But, yeah, it's an exciting one to start. So we're looking forward to it and, yeah, we'll take it as it comes. But, you know, our first job is here now and can't wait to be in on the field with the boys and with Gloucester and then take it from there then. Yeah, similar to Jack. Like, obviously, massively excited to represent this club, the history it stands for, and in a league like the Prem, which is the reason we've both moved up here to try it out. Yeah, can't wait to get started. Well, appreciate your time, lads.

26:00I know you've got other interviews to do, so thanks very much and all the best this season. Great, thank you very much. Thank you very much.

26:09Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text.

26:46You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance and some pay as little as$0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality, licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends.

27:22You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash start now. That's growtherapy.com slash start now. growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, Like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again.

28:05That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. So, Will, awesome to have Dowie Lake and Jack Morgan on the pod. Loads to get into with both of them. The move over here and then, of course, the Wales situation, which I thought, to be fair to them, I'm sure they are sick of being asked about it, but they spoke really well on.

28:47Yeah, and we were saying off mic that we've never properly chatted at Dowie Lake because we haven't been over to Wales too often. and Jack Morgan was on the lines, but we didn't see him too much either. So good to get them together. And I'm just sort of endlessly impressed by some of these Welsh lads who, despite the utter carnage in their national sport, they kind of just crack on and are still pretty damn good rugby players. Like Dowie Lake would have probably been a lion if it wasn't for an untimely injury, and Jack was. Definitely, yeah. And two class pick-ups for Gloucester. but yeah you just think i think it's almost underplayed perhaps and or under understood by people who don't live in wales like me and you who like being in that goldfish pole constantly and the constant refresh and breaking news of new things that are happening new chaos new decisions that are being made without their knowledge which is was being made quite obvious in that chat it just must be so tiring like imagine if in either of our jobs or anyone listening in your day-to-day life where they just sort of whether you work in a school or bank whatever for a media organization like us oh we might we might just shut you down in a couple of years but just wait and see and you're like what what am I going to do with that and at some point we will release our reasons why but not yet fully madness and so then you're probably your mum and dad's going oh what's happening have you still got a job in a couple of years you know I don't know but I think that's what when they were saying there that they were obviously in meetings with some of the decision makers and then you've got all your teammates asking you what's going on you don't know fully plus you're then finding out that actually weren't necessarily being told the full picture or given all the the truthful things at the time like it's a huge amount for them it's a massive burden i think it's so impressive that the standards that both not just them but both of those guys have maintained throughout all of this period and and like you hope because it we probably need to do a bigger deeper wider pod on the whole welsh carnage at some point but there has to be a there's probably going to be a kill off there like some something is going to have to happen yeah so what at the moment what is the well so the the scenario and this changes daily so the caveat here is that if there has been breaking news since we recorded this and it comes out then we apologize but i was actually messaging one of our friends over the border ben james from wales online to be like can you just give me like the four-part pricey of where we are here but and he has helped me with this so the plan obviously from the wru is to get down to three regions by 2028 it's either going to be the ospreys or the scarlet barring someone falling on their sword like the dragons which is just not going to happen cardiff are basically safe almost certainly safe like that's been in one of the press releases in recent months the wru are now meant to publish evidence that backs up this three team model soon but they're being faced by a backlash from the likes of jonathan davis jiffy um the legendary fly half obviously and what they're calling the coalition of the willing that want the whole wru board to step down and the kind of summary that ben gave me was that obviously many people are agreed that change needs to happen but now it actually is happening they're not keen on what the change is going to be and don't trust the wru to deliver it so it's just a total s show let's say and like yeah these guys have been existing in that maelstrom constantly yeah and just it just must be quite early and look obviously they're gonna have to step back into it in november and for the six nations and around the world cup like so if this is happening in 2028 they're going to the world cup being like the following season might be it for one of the teams and again all of this is insane like if this was not international sport if this was any business this would just be wild but yeah you have to sometimes just think about these lads in the middle of it who are then breaking themselves and their bodies for your entertainment yeah and they've got all that going on yeah crazy it's going to be cool to see them here in the prem isn't it both of them yeah really looking forward to it by the way I think that the what on earth is going on in Welsh rugby ruck special is something we should probably get working on because that would be really really interesting but yeah two really exciting players I think and you talk about Gloucester mentioned it to him to Jack as we were chatting there but it's been it's been poor hasn't it ultimately you know recent history at this place has been disappointing and poor and we don't know what they're going to look like I think I said to you on Monday in Monday's episode of I'll believe it when I see it.

33:32Yeah, yeah, yeah. But those are two guys that you believe in. But absolutely, yeah. And you feel like they'll steal the pack up. Must do. And John Klein's here as well. We've seen knocking around who's obviously won the World Cup with South Africa. Not currently in the box team because they've got about a million other locks that are pretty good. But you've got to think that that helps. And interestingly, talking to people here today, it does seem that finally they're starting to say the things that probably lots of their fans and we've been saying for a long time, is like how on earth have we not won the Prem?

34:03Like we're one of only two teams in this league now with Bristol that have not won the league. Like that's a disgrace really for like look at this place, look at this city, look at what's around this city. Like we were talking about it before with all the sponsors and things like that. This is a heartbeat of a local community and I actually think possibly there'll be other clubs that would put their hands up and say, oh no, I think we're like that too. But this is one place I think which captures lots of brilliant stuff about rugby because it really meshes the classes i think like you get your sort of like cheltenham racing set who probably come here you've probably got the farmer guys and you've got the shed an amazing place you've got the support of the support the town like we were saying off air if if gloucester ever made a prem final can you imagine the scenes around especially because it's like we know they've won like a what a zurich playoff or something in the early noughties and they were the team that kept finishing top of the league and then getting beaten by wasps but you go this place has been crying out for something to hold on to and i wonder whether the changes they're making i don't think that they're going to suddenly win the league in the next year two but chris boyd who's a kind of overseeing consultant here proves that he can do a good job of that sort of thing resetting the whole place with northampton look what they're doing different vibe here obviously I think he's going to take a lot off George Skivington's shoulders Rob Burgess who was part of Bath's massive recruitment and basically took them to the title is now here he seems to be dialing people into the history of the place not just the sort of day-to-day but what it means to be a Gloucester player and people like Lewis Ludlow are good at drilling that into the boys here as well and yeah I think a lot of neutral fans which we are would be like it'd be quite cool to have a season where gloss are really good and this is a horrible place to come and the shed's bouncing and like good teams come down here and get handed their ass like that's that's what it should be about down here shouldn't it and the fans i think would just accept them scrapping fighting having a pop at the big teams they don't expect them to win the champions cup and stuff like that but just a bit more dog and fight and steal about them be good bit more dogfight bit more consistency as well I think actually you could probably say that there are quite a lot of fan bases around the Prem that don't necessarily expect to be winning the title every year but you just want to fairly consistently be a top 14 and win your home games and like have a good day here and be like people are coming if they're coming out of here with one point though that's annoying for us yeah give yourselves a shot when it gets to the business end at the end of the season and for Gloucester in recent years for the most part that hasn't been the case so let's see how they get on those two guys are no doubt going to help and an impressive bit of recruitment but we shall see and that has been it we've brought everyone all over the place this week we've been chatting i think i've just been making up for missing all your sexy studio monday pods because i've been like well you're out of your house at the moment and i don't have one so i've just been like weirdly around the country and just being like can you come and see me in sail can you come to gloucester should we go to twickenham we've clocked up a few miles hasn't we But that's good fun.

37:18As much as we love the new studio, and those of you that haven't yet, then our Monday episodes are regularly going on the Timesport. Flying on YouTube. YouTube page, so you can go and check that out. But it is always good fun getting out and about, speaking to people, all that sort of thing, being on location, and we'll leave it there. What did Finn Smith, hang on, he called us gritty, didn't he, on Monday? He said, you're the gritty ones, are you? That is true, yeah. Because he was like, oh, I've just been in the love of rugby, and they've got a big pink studio. And we were like, but are they going to be there?

37:44On a Friday night. In the big dugout in Kingshome on a Thursday. No, didn't think so. Where's Ben Young? I can't see him. And that's where we come in. Look, been a pleasure. Really enjoyed this week and speaking to loads of different people at different clubs and building up to the new Prem season. As always, storylines everywhere. As always, we will be there reviewing all the action every single Monday. We'll chat to you soon. Do you know where you're heading? Yeah, Northampton against Newcastle Red Bulls. Champions. Well, what is it? holders against cash holders. There you go. Bank account holders.

38:18There's your preview sorted. Easy. Well, I'm doing the match report, so I think it's something else to say now. All right, perfect. We will leave it there. Appreciate all of you listening. Looking forward to the new season. If you want to drop us an email, the email address is theruckatthetimes.co.uk. Thanks very much for listening.

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