Wasps rugby stars take podcast on the road to Leamington

Josh and Tom visited Old Leamingtonians Rugby Club, on Bericote Road, to host a special ‘after dark’ edition of their monthly podcast – called Any Sting Goes – in front of a live audience, where they were joined by teammates Kieran Brookes, Jack Willis and ex-Wasps player Alex Rieder on the stage.

Wasps’ official partner, Purity Brewing, sponsored the first live recording, and supplied the guests and audience with some of their award-winning beers, as well as live tasting as part of the podcast.

The quintet shared stories about their favourite rugby socials over the years, while Cruse, who is a coach at Old Leamingtonians in his spare time, spoke about the strong relationships he has formed with players at the grassroots rugby club.

It comes as Bassett and Cruse prepare to compere a major sporting quiz, called Never Mind The Buzzwasps, at Ricoh Arena in front of a live audience on Thursday 12 March at 7.30pm until 10pm.

The quiz combines aspects of light-hearted quiz shows Never Mind The Buzzcocks, A Question of Sport and They Think It’s All Over – and will see two teams of Wasps players pitting their general knowledge wits against each other.

First-team stars Tommy Taylor, Zach Kibirige, Will Rowlands, Charlie Matthews, Dan Robson and Rob Miller are all set to be involved on the evening.

And ahead of the big night, the Black and Gold teammates shared some light-hearted banter in front of an intimate Leamington audience.

Wasps winger Bassett said: “This was the first time we had delivered our podcast live and was a chance for us to truly see what people thought of it, and we were delighted with the reaction that we got, which was mainly laughter!

“A lot of people only see us as professional rugby players when out on the grass or in front of the TV cameras, so it was good to be able to just be ourselves, talk about rugby and everyday topics, and give them an insight into what we are like as individuals.

“The success of the podcast led to us being asked to host Never Mind The Buzzwasps, which we were really pleased about having seen the quiz in action in previous years.

“We’re treating the evening as an extended version of our usual podcast sessions because with so many other players involved, it’s bound to throw up some interesting chat on the night.”

Verity Brown, Marketing Manager at Wasps, is organising Never Mind The Buzzwasps, which is free entry for Wasps Season Members and £15 for non-season members.

She added: “The audience left the room buzzing after the last quiz so due to popular demand, we are bringing it back for another round.

“Shows such as They Think It’s All Over and Never Mind The Buzzcocks were iconic shows back in their day and we will be resurrecting the spirit of these, whilst giving our audience the chance to mingle with the players beforehand and afterwards.

“Space for this event is limited so we’d urge supporters to book their spot as soon as they can.”

To register your interest in the event, click here, while any questions about the event should be sent to [email protected]