Stick to Rugby – the first episode, featuring the legendary Martin Johnson, is now available on podcast and YouTube – has brought together high-profile names from the sport in Lawrence Dallaglio, David Flatman, Katy Daley-Mclean and Tom Shanklin.
With the Guinness Men’s Six Nations kicking off this Friday night with France v Wales in Paris, there’s plenty to talk about. For former England captain Dallaglio, there is an abundance of talent to get excited about in this year’s tournament.
“Antoine Dupont, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud are on fire right now,” says the man who has straddled both European and world glory. “I’m also excited to watch Caelan Doris, Grégory Alldritt, and Finn Russell who is absolute class.”
So who does Dallaglio views as favourites in 2025? “France, just over Ireland, but I think every team will lose at least one match each,” he says. “My heart is 100% England, but my head says France to win the title, but not necessarily the Grand Slam. They will score a lot of tries!”
And so to Stick to Rugby, brought to you by Defender, which is part of the Gary Neville-owned The Overlap family, which also makes the hugely popular Stick to Football. Dallaglio is passionate about the new venture: “I think it’s brilliant and The Overlap is a natural fit for rugby. The sport takes itself far too seriously sometimes and needs to remind everyone how special it really is.
“The optics of how people talk about rugby need to change and we are going to have some serious fun.”
Former Bath and England prop David Flatman, now one of the most respected pundits in the game, emphasises that it’s not just a show for the so-called ‘rugby nause’.
“Of course there’s the rugby audience who will enjoy it, but it’s not going to be too nitty gritty,” he explains. “There’s going to be quite a lot of real-world based chat, quite a lot of laughs. It’s a little bit like what happened with Top Gear, in that it started as something that was really focused on reviewing cars, but actually became something you could watch even if you weren’t a super keeno – but super keenos like me could still enjoy it.”
The guests will be important to the success of the show, Flatman adds, as will the dynamic between the presenters. “Lawrence and Katy are World Cup winners, and that’s all they talk about,” he says, wryly. “Katy’s job is probably going to be to keep us grounded a little bit; Lawrence’s is to be the most alpha human being in the flock; Shanks is a bit odd; and I’m just the token asthmatic.”
Daley-McLean, like Dallaglio a World Cup winner, won eight Championship titles with the Red Rose. Her memories of watching the Six Nations are swathed in nostalgia. “It was the atmosphere in the house,” she recalls of her childhood memories of the tournament. “On a Saturday afternoon, that traditional 2pm kick-off, being at my grandparents’ house, sat on the floor because there was never a seat with my uncles, my cousins, and my dad there.
“That really warm memory of the music, the theme tune… That was grand about the men’s Six Nations, and definitely for me as a young girl, the aspiration to want to play rugby at a high level.”
Coincidentally, there is a further connection to the Stick to Football show besides The Overlap: Daley-McLean used to play football with one of its presenters, Lioness Jill Scott, growing up in North East. “She’s found some dreadful photos of when we were younger playing football together, which I told her she can’t share with anybody or I’ll have to kill her,” laughs Daley-McLean. “It’s been good to get a bit of advice from her on how she goes about managing the boys!”
As for 2005 Grand Slam winner Tom Shanklin, he sees the biggest storyline of this year’s Championship in Ireland. “Because it is a Lions year, the loss of Andy Farrell and how Ireland will cope without him will be very interesting,” notes the Welshman. “Will it make a change for them? I don’t think it will, but if they lose two or three games in this tournament, people may start to think that’s a reason. But I think they’re going in pretty strong. The first game up for them is against England, which is huge. I can’t wait for that one.”
In the early to mid-2000s, Shanklin was a key figure in the resurgence of Welsh rugby out of the sort of doldrums in which the team finds itself once again. What do Wales, last year’s Wooden Spooners, need to do to break the losing cycle? “There needs to be a significant improvement in their attack,” says Shanklin. “There’s been a drought of tries, but if we’re going to talk about it in basic terms, they just need to win a game.
“They didn’t win one last year, so that would be an improvement. Win one game, and you probably think if it’s a game they’ve got a chance of winning, it would be round two, Italy away.”
Stick to Rugby is now available via The Overlap Rugby YouTube channel
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-01-29 15:51:37
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