My Life in Rugby: Andy Long – former Bath, Munster, Northampton & England hooker

I am very, very proud of my England debut in 1997 and what it meant to me and my family, but I probably wasn’t prepared for the challenge – mentally or physically.
You have a dream about how it is going to work and you don’t dream about getting pulled off after 40 minutes and sitting on the bench for the next game.
It probably did affect me confidence-wise afterwards – when you are 20 you don’t really have a coping mechanism.
But history is what it is. You play the hand that is dealt you and that occasion made me not only a better player, but probably a better person. I wouldn’t change it.
Things happened really quickly. Bath played Cardiff in the Heineken Cup quarters the week before and Victor Ubogu said to me: “Next week they’re going to pick a team to play Australia and you’re in with a really good shot.” It was a bit odd, really.
We played and won and I got a all from Clive Woodward. My housemate Matt Perry actually got the same call five minutes later. From that day it was just madness.
There are a few landmarks in my childhood that got me excited about rugby. Firstly, at the age of five, I got taken to Bournemouth RC on a cold winter morning.
I also remember my dad taking me to an England v Wales game at Twickenham. We didn’t have tickets but we peeked in through the old stadium and it was amazing. I must have been about eight – that was my first taste of proper rugby.
Then there was the 1991 World Cup, which was quite a big thing – it was the first time rugby was massive in the UK really.
I had just finished my A-Levels in the summer of 1996 when I got a phone call from Andy Robinson at the age of 18 saying: “I want you to join the Bath academy.”
I had a great seven years at Bath but I wasn’t really playing towards the end and I agreed to join Sale, but it didn’t materialise. I got some really bad advice about ending my contract at Bath.
But without that I probably wouldn’t have got to Munster and experienced the great things that happened there.
After that I spent a year at Rotherham and I was walking off the field against Newcastle in the last game of the season when Rob Andrew said: “What are you doing next season?” This is a bit of a theme through my career.
You often don’t know where you’re going to be next and I’d never spoken to Rob Andrew in my life. That was the Saturday and by the Tuesday I had a contract in the post.
I loved playing for Newcastle. They are so passionate about their rugby and I played with some great players.
I spent a bit of time playing in Spain and then got a call from Northampton who wanted a hooker.
At the beginning of that season I was 16 away from 200 Premiership games and by luck someone gets injured or suspended and I made that goal.
I’d signed to carry on playing at Gloucester but neck problems forced me to retire. I was devastated but I’ve come out of rugby with some great memories.