Room 101: Alex Rae – Jersey forward

1. Travelling by plane
Unfortunately flying cannot be avoided when you play for an island team like Jersey. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve got on a plane and been prepared for take-off only to be told that there’s some delay. It’s not like you can get up and go out for a bite to eat, you’re stuck there privately seething for what could be hours until they finally get clearance. Just to add to the grief the air conditioning is normally out of order. I can tell you that there are a few guys in our squad who you wouldn’t want to be stuck next to in that situation! While I’m not a big fan of flying, I wouldn’t say it scares me – unlike some of the boys, who are very nervous flyers. Ironically, it’s mainly the hard men of the front row who are the ones pulling faces and gripping the arm rests like there’s no tomorrow!
TRP verdict:  Buckle up, you’re going in.
2. Queue jumpers
People who think they have a divine right to waltz to the front of a queue really get to me. Why should they think they are any better or different to the rest of us poor souls shuffling along and patiently waiting our turn? This happened to me the other day in the supermarket when the said ‘offender’ tried to point out that he’d been in the queue earlier so it was okay for him to go straight to the front. Usually I get told off by the wife for saying something and embarrassing her. I think I showed remarkable restraint on this occasion though!
TRP verdict:  We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with you on this one. Get in line for entry into Room 101.
3. Hooker nostalgists
The thing that really winds me up in rugby at the moment is hearing former players on TV harking on about the good old days when hookers were able to hook the ball at the scrum. This happened in the recent Championship game on TV when Bristol‘s hooker tried to push over the ball instead of hooking it and Rotherham got a strike against the head in a scrum close to their own line. If only hooking the ball back was that easy nowadays! It is a very, very different scrum to the ones you used to get in the amateur/early professional era.
TRP verdict:  If modern hookers can’t hook they should be called something else. You’re out.