Josh is an All Blacks legend who played at two Rugby World Cups across 54 games for the All Blacks and was a cult hero in Dunedin, where he played over 100 games for Otago and the Highlanders.
In this episode we talk about surfing with Tom Robinson, destroying his downstairs operation on the Crowd Goes Wild, what it was really like to play with and against Jonah, how he avoided food poisoning at the 95 World Cup, what it was like playing in NZ’s first Super Rugby season, why schoolboy rugby is better than All Blacks rugby, how he won consecutive seasons of Celebrity Treasure Island and much, much more.
Josh is not your average rugby player. He’s a trained physio, he surfs, he paints, he’s a reporter for Crowd Goes Wild, he restores Classic Cars, he’s a family man, and a deep thinker.
There was so much to talk about with Josh - and as he said at the end after nearly two hours - we barely scratched the surface! You’ll enjoy this one.
Show notes | Episode 78 | Josh Kronfeld
0:00: Surfing, “Back Yourself”, and “digging like a demented mole” on Jonah Lomu Rugby
4:08: The third ugliest man at the 1999 Rugby World Cup
6:15: Injuring his downstairs operation in preparation for an interview with Mahe Drysdale
14:56: The Crowd Goes Wild
19:18: Growing up in Hastings and the importance of schoolboy rugby
27:48: From 88kg to 100kg
33:20: Otago: rugby, beating the Lions, court sessions, the supporters club, and the University of Otago experience
47:21: From amateur to professional rugby
59:34: The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa
1:04:16: Meeting Nelson Mandela
1:07:26: A Jonah Lomu interlude
1:13:11: Playing for money at Leicester Tigers
1:17:07 Injuries over the years
1:22:55: No nukes in my backyard
1:28:26: Retiring from rugby and travelling for a year across the USA and South America
1:35:48: Going back to the University of Otago as a 33-year-old ex-All Black
1:38:57: Celebrity Treasure Island
1:48:48: Would Josh ever consider being a team physio?