Hosts Dallen Stanford & Robin MacDowell are joined by legend Spiff Sedrick for #RugbyHive Episode 34.

Sedrick is an American 7s player from Salt Lake City, Utah, who has represented Team USA on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series since 2021 and competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games winning a Bronze Medal. She scored one of the most iconic tries in rugby sevens history this year, with an 85-meter solo effort in the final play of the Bronze Medal match against Australia, then kicked the conversion to win the first ever medal in sevens for Team USA! It was a pivotal moment for rugby in North America, resulting in trailblazing businesswoman and investor Michele Kang immediately donating $4 million to the USA women's sevens team.

Sedrick debuted for the USA Eagles at the 2021 Dubai Sevens, placed 4th at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town and won Gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. She also won the Premier Rugby Sevens title with the Northern Loonies in 2021 and in 2023 won the United Championship with the Rocky Mountain Experts.

In this episode we talk about how Sedrick found rugby at Herriman High School, her journey playing the sport collegiately at Life University and winning the prestigious MA Sorensen Award for the top collegiate women’s rugby player in the country. We talk about her time playing in the Premier Rugby Sevens including two years being coached by Robin with the Northern Loonies. We delve into “that iconic match-winning try” plus the whole 2024 Paris Olympic Games experience including the record crowds for women’s sevens rugby! Sedrick also reveals more about being on Team USA with sensation Ilona Maher and how she will do on Dancing with the Stars!

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Hosts Dallen Stanford & Robin MacDowell are joined by legends Kieran and Nicole Crowley for #RugbyHive Episode 33.

Kieran played in the backline for the All Blacks from 1983-1991 (19 Caps) winning the 1987 Rugby World Cup on home soil. He was also part of the New Zealand team that won the Bledisloe Cup in 1985, 1990 and 1991. Kieran played 199 times for club team Taranaki, scoring 1,723 points, and later coached Taranaki from 1998-2007.

Kieran spent eight years coaching the Canadian Men’s 15s team, taking them to the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. He then spent five seasons with Benetton in Italy, which is when this interview was recorded during 2020. Since we spoke, Kieran was named Coach of the Year while at Benetton Rugby guiding them to a Pro 14 Rainbow Cup Championship (2021), before being selected as the Head Coach of Italy in May of 2021. He led Italy to a 22-21 win over Wales in the 2021 Six Nations, and then recorded one of the biggest upsets to date for the Azzurri by defeating Australia 28-27 in the Autumn tours of 2022.

Kieran’s daughter, Nicole, also grew up New Zealand until she moved to Canada with her family at 12 years of age. She played for Team BC in 7s and 15s, captaining them to a National Championship. At just 18 years old while completing an internship at Rugby Canada, Nicole got the opportunity to become Manager of the Canada Women’s 15s team. From there she worked on contract with Rugby Canada while finishing her Business degree at the University of Victoria, where she was also a member of the UVic Vikes rugby team. Nicole managed the Women’s 15s side through their 2017 World Cup campaign as well as the Women’s 7s team to the Pan American Games, HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and Olympic Qualification.

Since our interview, Nicole moved North with her partner (who works in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), living in the remote sub-Arctic in the Northwest Territories, in a town of only 450 people and with no roads connecting it to other towns. Nicole is the Director of Recreation for the municipality where she is highly involved with Special Olympics NT and Sport North, where she works to help disadvantaged and remote kids from communities like hers, access sporting opportunities.

In this episode we talk about Kieran and Nicole’s rugby backgrounds, their accomplishments in the sport, and how they both used rugby as a vehicle to live and work in different countries and experience new cultures.

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Hosts Dallen Stanford & Robin MacDowell are joined by legend Kelly Griffin for #RugbyHive Episode 32.  

Griffin signed a full-time training contract in 2011 with USA Rugby, and along with 7 other teammates to became the first group of professional women’s rugby players in the United States. She played on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series from 2011 to 2016, leading the country in tournament appearances, and was the only athlete of the "original eight" to have remained in residency throughout the four-year in the build-up to the 2016 Olympics.  

Griffin was part of the USA team that medaled at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, going undefeated in pool play, and claiming the Bronze Medal by beating Spain in sudden death overtime. She also competed as part of Team USA at the Pan American Games claiming a Bronze Medal. Griffin made history by captaining the USA Women's Olympic rugby team, which competed in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the inaugural Olympiad to include women's rugby.  

She has transitioned to a successful coaching career at the University of Santa Barbara, and also the Premier 7s Women’s Loonies in 2021/2022, leading them to the Inaugural Championship title in Memphis, Tennessee!   In this episode we talk about the development of the women’s game in the USA, the Olympic Games, and various dream team players that Griffin played alongside and against. We also look at the Premier Rugby 7s in North America, coaching the game to newer players, and that famous rugby tattoo!  

The Rugby Hive Podcast is brought to you by Gilbert Rugby Canada, Bru’s Biltong, Biltong Canada and EnduroSport.

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