There will come a time in the not-so-distant future where I'll have to hang the boots up but right now I have no plans to stop because I love this sport. I'll hope to play with with two of my sons, my middle boy Campbell will be 17 in September, so can then play men's rugby alongside my eldest Bailey and me.
One of my career highlights was playing at the Commonwealth Games. In 2014 I was at London Scottish where Simon Amor used to coach before he went over to the England Sevens programme. Mike Friday was director of rugby at the time and told me at training Simon was going to get in contact with me.
The phone call came which meant I was going to have a crack at going to the Commonwealth Games. It was 10-12 weeks of slog to try and get ready but thankfully I made it and represented England which was an incredible experience, going on to win the plate competition. After that I went out to South Africa to play in a World Series tournament in Port Elizabeth which was good fun as well. I'm a huge advocate for sevens, I played until two years ago for Samurai who are now known as Shogun. Younger players want to play as much as they can, so sevens is great because it's fast, good for your skills and is fun.
Watching it at the Olympics this year was awesome, it was a bit of a shame how New Zealand performed finishing fifth which isn't where they wanted to be. GB didn't make it which is a shame but France were ridiculous, Antoine Dupont was next level and for him to switch in and out of XVs and 7s has been pretty freakish.
I got into the sport through my dad as he used to play at our local club Marist in Nelson, New Zealand.
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Denne historien er fra August 18, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Ten-try Chiefs show Pirates no mercy
TEN-TRY Exeter inflicted the backlash from six successive defeats in their worst ever start to a Premiership season on a young Pirates side suffering their own problems in the Championship.
South America look to keep on building
AS Sebastián Piñeyrúa's historic six-year term as President of Rugby Sudamérica comes to an end, his replacement shows no signs of slowing down.
Scarratt excited by new pathway
ENGLAND centurion Emily Scarratt is delighted with the new women's BUCS programme which aims to provide a smoother pathway for young aspiring female players.
Baxter: I want to make things better
ROB Baxter will not be walking away from Exeter, the only club still looking for a Premiership victory this season, believing he can get the Chiefs back on track and he cannot bear the thought of anyone else doing the job.
Pearce walks in his father's footsteps
PADDY Pearce is living a dream after emulating his father and great-uncle by playing for the club he supported as a boy, Bristol.
New England group will cause uncertainty
SO JUST when we thought that everything was getting sorted between the RFU, the clubs and players, a number of new agreements and a new group raises its head.
Galthie turns his sights to the future
FRANCE head coach Fabien Galthie offered the clearest hint yet of Les Bleus' future on Wednesday, when he released 19 players back F to their clubs for the ninth and final Top 14 round before the international break.
Gilmore has tightened up our defence - Anderson
CAMERON Anderson has hailed the impact made by defence coach Jason Gilmore, below, since he arrived at The Stoop in the summer.
Ampthill given 11-try lesson in class from Bath
BATH secured a thumping away success in the opening match of their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign against Ampthill at Dillingham Park.
New faces take the plaudits for Saints
NORTHAMPTON handed out a thorough lesson to a tame Leicester team in this one-sided East Midlands derby to launch the Premiership Cup.