Football star Aaron Ramsdale's love of rugby
England Football and Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale spoke of his love of rugby and the differences between the two sports while attending the Senior Men’s training. Ramsdale appeared on the latest episode of O2 Inside Line: This Rose ahead of England’s Calcutta Cup win over Scotland in the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
The England goalkeeper was struck by how involved the players are during team meetings, explaining that this isn’t always the case in his own sport.
“In the meeting, it’s very player-led and there are much more conversations going on about it,” said Ramsdale. “The lads will talk in a way that allows everyone else to not only understand, but also respect.
“A lot of the time in football environments you could be waiting around for a few minutes for someone to say something. That side of the game is definitely something I’ll try to take away.
“We can all try to be leaders, but in a meeting of 20-30 men it’s sometimes hard to articulate or get your words out.”
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Learning from other sports
Ramsdale has long had an interest in rugby, but more recently the likes of Joe Marler and Danny Care, as well as watching the England Rugby YouTube channel, have seen his interest grow.
He has also known Jamie George for some time, having gotten to know him during George’s time as England captain, and the pair saw each other in the gym in Portugal over summer.
Even though Ramsdale is a fan of the sport, he also hopes to take learnings away from his time watching training, particularly maintaining a balanced lifestyle among the intensity of professional sport.
He said: “I came down to watch as a fan and see if I can take anything out of it, see what training is like and how they get after it.
“The professionalism of the rugby boys is a lot more than what people give it credit for, the way they train, in a lot of ways it’s a lot more professional than football.
“They also have the lifestyle balance and that’s always interested me how they are able to train so hard and keep a balanced lifestyle.
“I love it to be honest, even just being able to talk to them on a personal level to see how they deal with pressure away from sport.”
