I played my last game in 38-degree heat...

OMAN, where I have been living with my family for the last two years, is a beautiful country just like Wales with the coastline and the mountains - but with a lot fewer rugby clubs and a better climate. In fact, there is only one rugby club out here, in Muscat, where my son now plays.

- Jon Newcombe

After starting out at a local club Pontarddulais, I moved to Bonymaen RFC, which had one of the best youth set-ups around. Some very good players came through there, not least the world's most-capped player, Alun Wyn Jones. It's where the rain comes down sideways and you can get four seasons in one afternoon. Opposition sides dreaded playing there but we loved it.

Once I went on to Liverpool John Moores University to study PE and Geography I only intended to play for the university. But we trained at Birkenhead Park, one of the oldest clubs around, and it wasn't long before I joined them. I loved the history of the place, and with them only being in North 1 at the time, the lack of long distance travel, and the beer money I received, meant it complemented my student lifestyle very well.

Once I finished Uni, I got a job as a development officer at New Brighton and played for them for a season in Division 3. A Kiwi fella called Mike Howe was the coach and also an agent so he arranged for me and Ketts (Adam Kettle) to go to North Otago when they were looking for young loose forwards. It was 2005 so it was great timing with the Lions out there on tour.

The club were sponsored by a local electrical company and they gave us a job. Basically, we would just pass tools to the electricians as that's all we were trusted to do.

I think they just liked the idea of having some North Otago players on the books, plus we were easy targets for piss-taking because we didn't have a clue what we were doing; Ketts couldn't even put a light bulb in without smashing it in his hand or on the floor. Thankfully, the Union got us a coaching job and we had a great time travelling up and down New Zealand, watching the Lions whenever we could, as the job came with a car.