32: How important is Willi Heinz to Gloucester?

Gloucester president Fred Reed was the special guest on this week’s podcast.

Reed is organising and taking part in the president’s walk from Cirencester Rugby Club on Friday to Kingsholm on Saturday ahead of the game against Harlequins and explained why it means so much to him.

After doing the walk for the first time last season as part of Kingsholm’s 125-year anniversary celebrations which raised over £16,000 for various charities, the walk this week is being held in memory of Jack Haggett, a relative of his who passed away who died at the age of 21, with all funds going to the Muscle Help Foundation.

We also looked ahead to the weekend’s game and discussed the importance of captain Willi Heinz, who is likely to be absent this weekend after going off with a calf injury against Exeter.

The big off-the-field news this week has been Gloucester making a loss of £1.2m for the year ended June 30 2017 so we also discussed the state of the finances in the Premiership.

A former hooker, Reed made 129 appearance for Gloucester between 1969 and 1980 and reflected on his time as a player at the club and spoke of his passion for the club that still sees him playing a key role today.