Ahead of Rugby Luxembourg’s 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner, Stephen ‘Steps’ Lowe had the opportunity to catch up with the delightful Iain Balshaw (MBE) as they covered plenty of topics over Zoom for Today Radio.
Iain speaks on his love for the game, though he’s moved on since being injured while playing some of the best rugby of his life in Biarritz.
It is not that often that Luxembourg entertains World Cup Winning superstars, but that is the case as both Iain and Mike Tindall are guests of honour at this weekend’s celebrations. Being that Iain was one of Steps’ heroes when he too played rugby union this chat can veer on the nausey side of things but Iain gives a terrific insight into what it takes to win a world cup, what it is like to move on from the sport and where he thinks the game is going.
He admits he doesn’t play much rugby anymore and instead his sports of choice these days are tennis, racket tennis, golf, and cycling. When Iain looks back on his career he feels pretty satisfied; he acknowledges that there are “ifs, buts, and maybes,” and everyone always wants more, but now that he’s older he’s appreciative and grateful for everything he did in his rugby career.
He comes to Luxembourg after forming a friendship with Tony Whiteman when he was transitioning to the financial world. It only made sense to Iain that he come and help the club in its fundraising efforts.
Iain stressed the the utmost importance of grass roots rugby to the survival of the sport. “Like a pyramid,” he says as he explains that encouraging kids to join rugby clubs and providing said clubs with funds makes for a better game overall and creates a healthier and safer environment for the players. The smaller clubs feed into the larger teams so when they are better supported the very top of the pyramid does better too.
He also shared his thoughts on the World Cup hosted in France this summer, stating he is most excited about South Africa, France, New Zealand, and Island, but all in all this Cup is one of the most open and could go to anyone.
To book tickets to Rugby Luxembourg’s Anniversary Dinner, click here.
This is part one of two. Part two will be available on Friday 9th June on RTL Play or via the player below.
“There are things I could have done differently, I could have been more professional…and not had 5-10 beers after a game with all the other lads”
