Wolfpack landlords say Cheers to Sarries
Paul Rees talks to two former stars who have found success after retiring...with a little help
Life after rugby for Alistair Hargreaves and Chris Wyles involves a few beers. Some two million of them after the former Saracens players started brewing their own and their Wolfpack business, like the club they played for, tasted success.
Saracens, who will be back in the Premiership next season after serving a year’s penance in the Championship for breaching salary cap regulations, were widely castigated for flouting rules, but lost in the indignation was the club’s longheld policy of preparing their players for the day when they would walk out of the changing room for the final time.
Rather than take a step into the unknown, most have something to go to. Hargreaves, a former Springbok who captained Saracens before being forced to retire as a player in 2016 after a fifth concussion in two years, and Wyles, the former United States wing who was part of the country’s management team on their tour of England and Ireland this month three years after he called time on his career, pumped their own money into setting up Wolfpack but were able to call on the business expertise of the club’s owner, Nigel Wray.
They started selling their beer from a bus at the club’s ground on match days and delivering kegs to pubs in their cars after training. Now they have three pubs in London, the latest acquisition in Fulham also has rooms, and their two brews, a lager and a pilsner, will be supplemented by an IPA at
the end of this month.
“We had lunch with Nigel last week,” said Hargreaves. “He is one of the foremost investors in start-ups and the fact he shares his worldly knowledge on a weekly basis five years after I retired says everything about him. We are still close to the boys we played with and the staff. We have just seen Alex Sanderson (now in charge at Sale), Northampton came down here for an end of season party and they were followed by Newcastle.
“It shows that the culture of rugby in the UK is something to be cherished: it is about community, working incredibly hard on the field and being competitive and aggressive but also realising that it is a game which brings people together for fun. That is what inspired is to set up Wolfpack. There is a significant correlation in what you learn in business and in sport and we have been able to harness what made us successful as rugby players. It is as if we are still part of a rugby club.”
Wyles, who started his Premiership career at Northampton, spent ten years at Saracens from 2008 after being recruited by Eddie Jones who had been part of the South African management team in the 2007 World Cup when Wyles scored a try against the Springboks.
“Joining Saracens was life-changing for Alistair and me,” he said, “because of the way the club was run and how they looked after people. They encouraged us to study or get involved in a business to prepare us for life after rugby. When we came up with the Wolfpack idea, they encouraged us and so when we turned up one day and told the then chief executive (Ed Griffiths) we wanted to park a bus at the side of the stadium and turn it into a bar, he did not laugh it off.”
The bus will be there at the start of the new season. “It is nice to go back because it shows how far we have come,” said Hargreaves. “Everyone knows about the controversy with Saracens and the club accepted its responsibility. The bad stuff should be parked and the focus turn to the incredible amount of good stuff it has done for communities, the development of the game and for mental health.
“They gave us a platform to move from rugby, something so many players have a hard time with. You are saying goodbye to a life, friends and an infrastructure to go out into the big wide world. We have built our business through the club, the supporters, our friends and the community and it is time that the brilliant things Saracens do were highlighted.”
Wyles agreed, saying: “We could reel off a number of different stories about how other players were treated and looked after. Saracens were trailblazers in how players should be looked after.
You hear sporting organisations talk about it, but Saracens did it and it is frustrating to hear the negativity.”
Wolfpack is derived from the name applied to their defensive system when Paul Gustard coached that part of the game at the club. Just as talking a good game is not the same as delivering on the field, so the proof of a beer is in the drinking and having sold some two million pints, they have passed the taste test. And they have survived the various lockdowns, the first of which came just six weeks after they had opened their second pub in West Hampstead. “It has been an incredibly difficult time,” said Hargreaves. “We launched the pub on a Six Nations week last year and got off to a flying start. Six weeks later the doors closed for
“It is time that the brilliant things Saracens do were highlighted”
the best part of 18 months. We had to face the reality of losing our business: the fight to survive made us appreciate what we had. A pub is all about spontaneity, being able to get a pint without having to scan a barcode. We want high energy and fun in our bars and that has been tough in a sterile environment.”
The pair remain close to rugby. Wyles was part of the USA’s coaching team this month and while the second-half rally against England at Twickenham was followed by a heavy defeat against Ireland in Dublin a week later, he believes the future for the Eagles looks brighter than it has been in the professional era with Major League Rugby driving an increase in professional standards.
“The tour was a tough ask because we had not come together for two years and only had three training sessions before we played England,” said Wyles. “There is certainly something to build on because the MLR is creating a bigger playing pool with a better understanding of professionalism. What we could take from it was the bigger picture rather than results, especially as there is a likely bid to host the 2031 World Cup.
“There have been positive noises about our
chances. It would give the league a 10-year runway into it and we would have tome to learn from Japan’s performance pathways ahead of 2019. We would have the time to develop a well-thought out plan and use MLR, the Olympics and Sevens to create a deep player pool. We would have to make sure it is bespoke for American rugby.
“It was good to be back in the environment and engaging with the players again. It was fantastic to spend time with Neal Harley, a very experienced coach I soaked up knowledge from, and Gary Gold (the Eagles’ head coach). It is still to be confirmed whether I have any further involvement of them with crucial World Cup qualifiers against Canada coming up. I just want to see them become competitive.”
Wyles was able to take a close look at Marcus Smith, the Harlequins outside-half who in a few weeks won the Premiership title, made his Test debut for England and was called up by the Lions as cover for Finn Russell in South Africa.
“The game seems to be trying to reduce the number of collisions in a match and that should suit him,” said Wyles. “I am sure he has a big career ahead of him. He is a good professional and he is ambitious. He has a foundation, an ability to step, a long passing game and he off-loads. I am sure he will stick to who he is while building a different skillset in internationals. He may only be 22, but he has a head on his shoulders.”
Hargreaves and Wyles were speaking ahead of yesterday’s first Test between South Africa and the Lions in Cape Town. Both expected the Springboks to win a fiercely contested series, although the Lions’ selection behind, with Owen Farrell on the bench, Elliot Daly at outside-centre and Stuart Hogg at full-back, suggested the tourists would seek space as well as contact.
“I would never write Owen off,” said Wyles. “When it comes to mental strength and competitiveness he stands out. He has a big game understanding and mentality and he was a massive influence in everything Saracens did well. When you are playing the Springboks in South Africa, there are only a few ways to beat them and an expansive game has not been one of them.”
Hargreaves, who won the first of his four South Africa caps against Wales in Cardiff in 2010, said: “I think the intensity in the Tests will be unrivalled. South Africa had a mission in the World Cup that went beyond rugby, trying to unite the country, and that message might be even more relevant now given the current turmoil at home.”