Rugby and Football, Sportshour
Rugby and Football this week on Sporthour live via Satellite 0n 91.5FM and 102.5FM from 4pm
As the Rugby Union World Cup begins we hear from former England Rugby World Cup winner Neil Back, a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British and Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.
We discuss the game and hear how a critical illness he contracted in 2013 helped shape his perspective on life.
In 2003, Neil Back was written into rugby history, winning the Grand Slam and the Rugby World Cup with England. He has since coached at Leicester Tigers, Leeds, Rugby Lions and Edinburgh. Dean Eldredge is the Communications Director of Soar Media and Oporto Sports, and has worked in sports media and marketing for over ten years.
A few months ago Sportshour heard the story of the world’s worst football team – the Bhutan national team that had, until our feature, lost game after game for years. Whilst we aren’t claiming any influence, immediately after our feature, Bhutan beat Sri Lanka to qualify for the next round of World Cup qualifying! Things have gone less well since then as Bhutan lost 15-0 in the last round against Qatar. But having enjoyed the passion and warmth of the Bhutanese people we decided to return and concentrate on a sport they excel in, as Simon Parker reports.
 As football’s European 6 A Side Championships begin in Croatia, we hear from one of the players, former Arsenal player Paolo Vernazza.
Amongst all the other pressures of being a footballer,
we hear how Paolo had to overcome an injury sustained after being stabbed trying to stop a burglary in his home.
Paolo started his career at Arsenal but struggled to break into the first team.
He made his first-team debut in a League Cup match against Birmingham City on 14 October 1997. He only played one league game (against Crystal Palace) as Arsenal won the 1997-98 FA Premier League, meaning he didn’t qualify for a winners’ medal.
Sporthour is presented on Phuket Island Radio every Saturday LIVE via satellite from 4pm.
