This is a Global Player original podcast.

Welcome to Sweeney Talks. It's a podcast series where I get to interview people who've done serious stuff with their lives and then got into trouble. Big trouble. I'm not here to lecture them about that. I'm kind of a professor of big trouble

ology myself. I've got history with the Church of Scientology, North Korea, Donald Trump,

Vladimir Putin, Tommy Robinson and the Russian army. I'm here to find out what it feels like

to be in the deep doo-doo.

How you survive it, and then how the hell you get out of it.

If you've been in trouble, you're not alone.

So, come along for the ride.

You might learn some new tricks.

You might have a laugh, but one thing is sure. The best stories aren't told

by the well-behaved.

And once you've listened to the interview, you can hear what I really think about it. In Sweeney

keeps talking. Find that exclusively on Global Player. Today's guest is James Haskell,

one of English rugby's greatest stars, but early on he also played for Wales and could

have played for Ireland too. Eugenier bets there, mate, but he's also been open and honest about the

downside sluggishness and some issues

with mental health. And that takes real guts. He's also gone through spinal surgery and his

misses, Chloe Madele, calls him rugby's answer to Donald Trump, which I think's a bit cruel, frankly.

But let's start with your first big crunch. You're on the ground, you're hurting, and it's not good.

How old were you?

How did you get up again?

And why?

...