Scott Baldwin: "I just loved the high pressure."

Beyond the Breakdown is a podcast rooted in Wales’ rugby clubs, with legends sharing stories of life in and beyond the game, and the challenges facing our communities and clubs.

In our fourth episode we are talking to Scott Balwin – a former Ospreys, Quinns and Wales player now on an exciting journey as a coach. Scott sits at the intersection between rugby at an elite level and the game at grassroots, as a player and now as Head Coach at Bridgend Ravens.

Bridgend Ravens was founded in 1878 and since then has produced 25 British and Irish Lions and a list of amazing players as long as your arm. Like many clubs, the Ravens are facing rising costs and challenges with keeping the lights on, but they have been innovating. Their new partnership with Electrify Cymru, who are the sponsors of the newly named Electric Brewery Field, will support the club to transform how they use energy, meaning they have more money to invest back into the team. One of these plans, as you will hear Scott talk about, is to use wind power to make the Electric Brewery field the site of Wales’ first carbon-neutral rugby game. It really feels like the Ravens are a club meeting their challenges head on.

As with our conversation with Bomb last week, this week’s episode is, in large part, a reflection on the game at every level and from the perspective of coaching the game, not just playing it, in Wales but also in the English system. Both conversations reflect on the culture in rugby and the idea of putting the person above the player.

It was fantastic to be able to spend time talking to a student of the game like Scott in this episode – to be able to bring out his learnings, his different experiences in the game and what he thinks connects it all. Not to mention talking to him about how important Steve Tandy was in his career.

We really hope that this conversation brings you as much enjoyment to listen to as it was to have and potentially offers a slightly different perspective on the game we love.