So why do we play this game? There's something very special about Rugby among team sports because we have room for everyone. We need our powerhouse props, our lanky, ranging locks, our fearless Flankers, lippy scrum halves, visionary fly halves, solid inside centres, ghosting outside centres, flying wings and those full backs who really need everything!

I remember as a teenager being interviewed with a team mate by the local paper: "which of you is better, faster, has more girlfriends?" I was a lock, Andy a full back. Different lives, hobbies, social circles, but team mates for life. The journo just didn't get it. (Although Andy really was better).

So we need each other, and we need our opponents, refs and supporters.

That's why we all greet and cheer the other team and the ref at the end of a game.

Tours are the very heart of the game. You get to make new friends, see new parts of the world, to learn from and to show what you can do to new teams.

You may never meet again, but you'll remember it forever.

And what about the "game for thugs played by gentlemen"? Half right. there is nothing thug like about a balletic tackle, a perfect body angle or a well timed pass. But to look after each other, we need respect for the rules and the referee. That's why we're not allowed to tackle high, to hand off (yet), to drop people when we've tackled them, or to step on them in a ruck. It takes great control, and the best teams are the best respecters of their opponents. Real gentlemen.

So we play the game mostly for life skills: fun, confidence, respect, fitness and learning to live outside our comfort zone.

And the odd win along the way!

Tim