Ben Woods: 'I don’t know a player that hasn’t had some struggles afterwards'

It’s been quite the eventful few years for Ben Woods, the ex-Leicester and Newcastle back row, as head of rugby at the Quantum Sport Limited player agency.

The pandemic wasn’t in the script when he transferred from Legion Sports Management in the summer of 2018. Neither was the quick succession collapse of Gallagher Premiership trio Worcester, Wasps, London Irish, and Championship champions Jersey.

There has been gut punch after gut punch, yet rugby hasn’t forgotten its noble, caring-for-others attitude. Woods noticed this last year when involved in raising £32,000 for the Military vs Cancer charity through a UK Armed Forces RFC fixture with a North of England Select XV in Newcastle.

He’s now giving a dig-out for round two, an expanded event featuring men’s and women’s matches at Kingston Park on June 22. “It’s really good for the sport,” he assured RugbyPass.

“There is a lot of talent at that national league level in the northeast and guys want to get involved raising money and helping people. It fits really well together. Last year was a really good first event and it will grow and get bigger.

“It was a baking hot day at Kingston Park. The game was fantastic, we came out the right side of it but just the feel of the day was brilliant. There was a sizeable crowd and everyone came together for the charity.

“It was a mix of National League players from the northeast, a real showcase of that level below professional. Some really good up-and-coming names; the likes of Max Pepper, who has been at Durham Uni. Zak Poole, who captained Rotherham Titans. Some really good players just beneath that professional level in the area.”

Showcasing this talent is something close to Woods’ heart. Some of his clients have had a torrid time in recent years with clubs closing and pathways blocked. If the only shop window attracted a greater footfall…

“It’s obvious it has been pretty tough. In England, there are four less professional teams than there were and it has been hard for young players who want to break through, hard for players above that because there is less opportunity to be professional. It’s probably a resetting of where everything is in rugby in England.

“Some shoots are coming through that look positive signs, where teams are trying to grow stuff. They are trying to grow social media, trying to grow attendances and attract new fans into the sport. If they can do that it should bode well for the future.

“I’m not a marketing expert; I just know that the product on the field is so good, the skill levels coming through, the coaching, the young players now are unbelievable. Even from 12 years ago when I finished it’s chalk and cheese as a sport.

“The game has moved on so much and I just don’t know whether that is getting across to the general public because the games are exciting, there’s tries, there’s big hits, there’s all the things you want to see that make the sport special, but I don’t know what it is at the minute that maybe isn’t being found or helping it to grow. But it’s definitely there and I can’t see it not happening over the next few years.”

That is a balm to soothe recent sores of having clients left suddenly unemployed. “Guys were going in day to day trying to do their jobs and it all happened slightly differently. The lads at Jersey found out at like six in the morning, they were meant to be flying somewhere so yeah, completely out of the blue.

Action from last year's Military vs Cancer charity match at Kingston Park

“They had been told everything was fine and they had the plaster ripped off really early in the morning. It’s difficult. Every player has different stages of their life, different family environments. Some have children, some are on their way up in terms of their career, and some are sort of gearing into their next steps but for all of them, it was difficult because that immediate change came so quickly.

“It was immediate by nature, it wasn’t anything they could plan for. It has been hard all around and for some of them, it meant going into semi-professional rugby. For others, it meant finding another professional club and for others, it has really made it difficult to keep their progression up. They have had to find different ways and different avenues to try and get back to where they were or where they want to get to.”

The liquidations had Woods thinking back to when he was in the early foothills of his playing career. “I remember Celtic Warriors, that’s quite a long time ago now. Whilst I wasn’t an agent at that time I do remember some of my teammates coming to Newcastle who had come from there.

“You didn’t really appreciate at the time, you just sort of play and get on with your own stuff. But when you see the actually reality of it it’s difficult. It’s difficult for the players and their families and everyone associated with them.”

There have been fears that Newcastle could potentially be next to go under. They have lost all 15 Premiership matches this term, got rid of their new coach Alex Codling less than six months in, and were humiliated last Sunday 14-85 at Bristol. Woods insisted their survival is a must for the region.

“It’s been such a difficult season for them. They have cut their cloth accordingly and the most valuable thing is there is still a club in the northeast. If it’s run differently there might not be a club there. That’s my take from the outside. It’s been hard… but it’s not from the lack of trying. They have got a good group and, as a club, everyone in the northeast is behind them and wants them to do well.

“If there wasn’t a professional team in Newcastle then the only Premiership team in the north would be Sale and Doncaster at Championship level. To not have a Premiership, top-flight club from the whole of Yorkshire and the northeast would be a real detriment to players.

“Young players need to be able to see a future and they want to play in their home area and there is a lot of talent comes out of the northeast and Yorkshire for there not to be a club to feed into. It would be a real shame if there wasn’t. There is an appetite for it. Football is the main sport and probably always will be but there is definitely a role for rugby to play in that underneath that and attract fans.”

Adam Radwan, a client of Woods, is the type of locally produced X-factor that stands out. Steve Borthwick’s England haven’t needed him – his numbers are still two caps, four tries in 2021 under Eddie Jones – but a rep-level game-changer could be his potential selection for Great Britain 7s.

They will look to qualify for the Paris Olympics via a Monaco repechage in late June following the HSBC SVNS finale in Madrid in five weeks. “It’s something he is looking into,” confirmed Woods. “Newcastle have okayed it. It’s a matter of dotting the Is and crossing the Ts and making sure everything is in place to allow him to go and push for selection.

“They have got their group of players that have been there and Adam, if he gets everything in place, has got to go and prove he is worth a place in it. From the outside, he would go there and excel and be a real point of difference, hopefully on a big stage.

“He is a talented player but there are a lot of talented wingers around. Adam does have a point of difference in that he is exceptionally quick if not the quickest; the stats back that up. But with everything, with England and Newcastle and wherever you are playing, it’s selection-based, opinion-based. Everyone has got their opinion on things and he has just got to keep pushing and doing the best that he can.”

Another exciting winger on the Quantum Sport list is Jessica Breach, a Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam winner this weekend with John Mitchell’s England. Woods suggested the women’s game is poised to explode with the country set to host the Rugby World Cup next year followed by the first-ever British and Irish Lions tour in 2027.

“Yeah, definitely. You see the announcement of the Lions tour and the funding that is bringing into the game. England at the minute are the standard bearers. At the minute it’s hard to see where the limit would be as there is just so much growth there. So much growth.

“As everyone keeps getting more and more professional that will keep growing and the contests will keep getting better but also in terms of participation, more people will want to watch and there is no reason why Twickenham can’t be full in the next few years."

We wrapped up by reflecting on Woods' own playing career and his transition out of it, an adventure cut short at the age of 29 because of a wrist injury. “That scaphoid, they are notoriously bad healers. There are quite a lot of players who retired with them over the years.

“It might just be one of them where the blood supply into it is pretty poor if you break it in the wrong place, it doesn’t get a chance to heal. Yeah, I don’t know is the answer to that [would his injury be a career-ender now given the advances in treatment?]. I would like to think if players have it now they might be able to keep going and it not affect them but I don’t know.”

Retirement was a regret but it was tempered by the fact Woods was fortunate to have had a career in the first place as he shattered his leg playing A-League rugby at Alnwick the night after he debuted for Newcastle in a draw at Leeds in March 2003. “That was all Toby Flood’s fault for not sidestepping,” he explained.

“He got basically dump-tackled onto my leg and it snapped in three places. Whilst I was unlucky at the end of my career, it could all have been over at the age of 21 the day after I made my professional debut. I played A league on the Monday and then that happened and I was injured for 18 months. Luckily it all healed and it allowed me to keep playing and running. It did make me a bit slower after but I could still run – and I can still run now – so I have a lot to be thankful for.

“I finished quite early but lucky in some respects that whilst I did get injuries, I’m relatively okay with things. Sometimes you go on a bit longer, you might have a knee that gives you more grief and I have got friends that have knee replacements and have struggled with other things.”

Ben Woods in England Saxons action in 2008 versus Italy A (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

England Saxons selection was the highest up the rep ladder Woods clambered. When was he at his very best? “My peak off the field was probably 2005-ish. On the field, some years at Newcastle I had good seasons and maybe being in a team higher up the league I would have got more recognition. But having said that, there were some great players around at the time. That England back row with Lewis Moody, (Lawrence) Dallaglio, Richard Hill, they were best in the world so you were up against that.

“My first year at Leicester (2008/09), I was injured at the start and then went on a run towards the end and we got to the Heineken Cup final and won the Premiership and things just fell into place. Other lads got injured, which gave me an opportunity, and I rolled with it and had a good period of form. We were just unfortunate to bump into a young Johnny Sexton who nailed every kick in the final.”

The last word goes to his transition from the game in 2012. How awkward was moving on back then compared to current-day supports? “There is more awareness around it now. There are more people and organisations prepared to help with it but with anything you have got to engage with it.

“It’s probably easier in that there is more awareness but it’s probably harder now than when I was finishing. We just about had Twitter, there was no Instagram. Social media wasn’t as it is now, so that loss of identity at times might be a bit harder for players who have grown up with everyone knowing they were in the team this week, your progression, and everything else.

“Mine wasn’t particularly easy but some of that was my own making. I don’t really know a player that hasn’t had some struggles afterwards. It might be financial, might just be emotional, might be just the loss of the regularity of training, or whatever because it is a big change in your life.

“Generally it doesn’t happen on your own terms, which can be quite difficult, and then trying to find something else to do… As I say, there is more awareness around it and players can be prepared at an earlier stage than we were, which can make it easier but it won’t make it easy as it is going to be difficult at any age.”

• Tickets for the June 24 Military vs Cancer double-header are priced at £10 for adults, and £5 for children, with tickets for military personnel and veterans free of charge. Click here to buy.