EPISODE · Oct 31, 2015 · 49 MIN
The Rugby World Cap
from Not by the Playbook · host BBC World Service
As the Rugby World comes to an end, we look at the high-profile injuries in the tournament and whether it’s time for all players wear scrum caps. We have been to the British Standard Institution’s testing facility to see what difference they can make.The Best of Enemies So who will come out on top in the battle of the Antipodeans? We look at what binds and divides these two nations with Australian comedian Marty Wilson and New Zealand funnyman Jarred Christmas.The Big Sleep Why tossing and turning the night before the World Cup final might actually improve the performance of any Australian or All Black insomniac players.Scary Sport On Halloween, we hear some of the remarkable ghost stories that make baseball the scariest sport around. From A-rod to Babe Ruth, “Field of Screams” documents more than 140 separate supernatural baseball stories. We hear from the author Mickey Bradley.Walking Back from the Dead Six time Olympic gold medal swimmer Amy Van Dyken was told 18 months ago she would never walk again after a quad bike accident left her paralysed just below the waist. She was even told to say goodbye to her loved ones. Amy, though, used her fighting spirit to pull through and make remarkable progress in her rehabilitation. She even intends to walk again.Brannigan’s New Law Curbing the desire to run as fast as you can from the gun is something every athlete has to control. Michael Brannigan’s autism makes that an extremely difficult challenge. It has not stopped him from winning gold in the 1500m at the IPC World championships this week. Now former 1500m Olympic champion Joaquin Cruz is tipping him for Paralympic and Olympic glory.Sporting Witness… After a series of painful defeats to France, New Zealand finally came good in the Rugby World Cup of 2011, defeating the French by a single point in front of an unbearably tense home Auckland crowd. Former lock Ali Williams tells us about how the All Blacks stopped choking in the big match.Photo: A generic scrum cap is left on the pitch during a match (CREDIT: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
What this episode covers
As the Rugby World comes to an end, we look at the high-profile injuries in the tournament and whether it’s time for all players wear scrum caps. We have been to the British Standard Institution’s testing facility to see what difference they can make.The Best of Enemies So who will come out on top in the battle of the Antipodeans? We look at what binds and divides these two nations with Australian comedian Marty Wilson and New Zealand funnyman Jarred Christmas.The Big Sleep Why tossing and turning the night before the World Cup final might actually improve the performance of any Australian or All Black insomniac players.Scary Sport On Halloween, we hear some of the remarkable ghost stories that make baseball the scariest sport around. From A-rod to Babe Ruth, “Field of Screams” documents more than 140 separate supernatural baseball stories. We hear from the author Mickey Bradley.Walking Back from the Dead Six time Olympic gold medal swimmer Amy Van Dyken was told 18 months ago she would never walk again after a quad bike accident left her paralysed just below the waist. She was even told to say goodbye to her loved ones. Amy, though, used her fighting spirit to pull through and make remarkable progress in her rehabilitation. She even intends to walk again.Brannigan’s New Law Curbing the desire to run as fast as you can from the gun is something every athlete has to control. Michael Brannigan’s autism makes that an extremely difficult challenge. It has not stopped him from winning gold in the 1500m at the IPC World championships this week. Now former 1500m Olympic champion Joaquin Cruz is tipping him for Paralympic and Olympic glory.Sporting Witness… After a series of painful defeats to France, New Zealand finally came good in the Rugby World Cup of 2011, defeating the French by a single point in front of an unbearably tense home Auckland crowd. Former lock Ali Williams tells us about how the All Blacks stopped choking in the big match.Photo: A generic scrum cap is left on the pitch during a match (CREDIT: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
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The Rugby World Cap
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