My Life in Rugby

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s My Life in Rugby news, interviews, opinion and other content.

My Life in Rugby: Ayoola Erinle – Former Wasps, Leicester, Biarritz, Nottingham and England centre

16 February 2016 0 comments

Wasps really were avant-garde under the coaching of Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Craig White, and I count myself very fortunate to have been playing […]

My Life in Rugby: Peter Squires – former Ripon, Harrogate, England and Lions wing

9 February 2016 0 comments

Ripon born and bred, I was lucky enough to be able to play both county cricket and rugby for Yorkshire. I made 49 first-class appearances […]

My Life in Rugby: Olly Kohn – former Harlequins, Bristol, Plymouth and Wales lock

26 January 2016 0 comments

First and foremost, I feel lucky to have been involved in what felt like a golden era for Quins. Conor O’Shea had come in a […]

My Life in Rugby: Nigel Horton – former England, Moseley and Toulouse lock

19 January 2016 0 comments

Being the first England player to play for their country across three decades, I once found myself the subject of a quiz question. The likes […]

My Life in Rugby: Ross Reynolds – former Wallaby No.8 and Rotherham, Australia and Brumbies coach

12 January 2016 0 comments

Having won Premierships in Australian club rugby as both a player and a coach with Manly, Gordon and Sydney University, it is a pity I […]

My Life in Rugby: Tony de Mulder – Doncaster president

5 January 2016 0 comments

It was a great honour to lead the side out against Moseley last month when I celebrated my 25th anniversary as president of Doncaster RFC. […]

My Life in Rugby: Jake Abbott – former Worcester and England Sevens

29 December 2015 0 comments

I’m living the proverbial dream as the first professional overseas player in America at the country’s first professional rugby club, Griffins RFC. It won’t be […]

My Life in Rugby: Rob Hardwick – former Coventry, London Irish and England prop

22 December 2015 0 comments

Playing for Coventry and treading the same turf as my heroes had done was something I’d always aspired to when I watched the team play […]

My Life in Rugby: Darren Molloy – former Wasps, Gloucester and Leinster prop

15 December 2015 0 comments

Once a Wasp, always a Wasp is an oft-used phrase that resonates with me 100 per cent. From the day I first signed for Wasps […]

My Life in Rugby: Richard Moon – former Harlequins scrum-half

8 December 2015 0 comments

I’ve got an embarrassingly long list of former clubs but Walsall RFC is where my playing days, aged five to 35, started and finished. Walsall […]

My Life in Rugby: Scott Mathie – former Bulls, Sharks, Leeds and Sale scrum-half

1 December 2015 0 comments

If there is one match I’d like to be able to go back in time and change, it would be my last game for Leeds, […]

My Life in Rugby: Mark Bakewell – former Eastern Suburbs player and Bath coach

24 November 2015 0 comments

With more than 400 games as a player (prop and back row) and coach, Eastern Suburbs in Sydney is definitely my club. It’s where I […]

My Life in Rugby: Mark Jones – former Scarlets and Wales wing now Rotherham coach

17 November 2015 0 comments

Hopefully my rugby career has plenty of miles left on the clock – the long commute from Llanelli to Rotherham certainly suggests so – but […]

My Life in Rugby: Roland de Marigny – former Italy, Leeds, Calvisano, Bangor and Natal Sharks full-back

10 November 2015 0 comments

For me not facing down the Haka hurt more than the result when Italy played New Zealand in our opening match at RWC 2007. Our […]

My Life in Rugby: Darren Fox – former Northampton flanker

3 November 2015 0 comments

If I’m brutally honest with myself I didn’t fulfill my potential as a player. Yes, I played 149 games for Saints and made the bench […]

My Life in Rugby: Chris Cracknell – former England Sevens star

27 October 2015 0 comments

I’ve always been a bit of a nomad so playing Sevens around the world for 10 years suited me. In so many respects I have […]

My Life in Rugby: Chris Bell – former Plymouth, Harlequins, Sale & Wasps centre

20 October 2015 0 comments

As head of off-field player development at Wasps, I’m relishing the chance to help the next generation of professional players coming through. Injury can strike […]

My Life in Rugby: Steve Bainbridge – Former Blaydon, Fylde, Orrell, Gosforth, England & Lions Lock

13 October 2015 0 comments

I’m firmly of the belief that National Service or a couple of years of compulsory rugby would help today’s youth understand respect and values. As […]

My Life in Rugby: Ollie Campbell – former Ireland and Lions fly-half

6 October 2015 0 comments

Rugby is not just a sport, it’s a way of life. At nine, my Dad took me to Lansdowne Road for the first time to […]

My Life in Rugby: Neil Kelly – Romania defence coach

29 September 2015 0 comments

As defence coach of Romania I’m really looking forward to the World Cup, it should be a great opportunity for Romania to showcase the improvements […]

My Life in Rugby: Chas Cusani – former Orrell lock

23 September 2015 0 comments

My reputation as a ‘no-holds barred’ player may have gone before me during 20 years with Orrell, Lancashire and the North, but one person who […]

My Life in Rugby: Dennis Hickie – former Leinster and Ireland wing

15 September 2015 0 comments

Overall I have to be very thankful for what I was able to achieve in rugby with the help of great team-mates and some excellent […]

My life in Rugby: Bleddyn Bowen – former Wales captain and Swansea centre

8 September 2015 0 comments

Captaining Wales to the 1988 Triple Crown was a huge honour. Not only was it Wales’ first for nearly a decade but we achieved it […]

My Life in Rugby: Robin Cowling – former England prop

1 September 2015 0 comments

With my family background I suppose I was destined to play rugby. My dad came from County Durham and played Rugby League while my mother […]

My Life in Rugby: Tommy Hayes – former Waikato, Glasgow & Bristol fly-half

25 August 2015 2 comments

When I moved over to Scotland from New Zealand in the late Nineties I was warned to pack plenty of coats and jumpers. But I […]

My Life in Rugby: Roger Shackleton – former Harrogate and England fly-half

18 August 2015 0 comments

Receiving a letter from then secretary Robin Prescott inviting me to play for England a few days after I’d broken my leg and been stretchered […]

My Life in Rugby: Tony Bond – former Broughton Park, Sale, Neath and England centre

11 August 2015 0 comments

They say a week is a long time in politics and the same is true of rugby, in my experience anyway. After the high of […]

My Life in Rugby: Tony Yapp – Taunton head coach

4 August 2015 0 comments

A couple of years ago I learned I’d scored 2,999 points in Premiership, National League and Cup rugby. There was no way I wanted to […]

My Life in Rugby: John Devereux – Wales dual-code international

21 July 2015 0 comments

I was one of the last crop of players who was capped while still a student at what was then known as South Glamorgan Institute. […]

My Life in Rugby: Keith Robertson – former Scotland wing

14 July 2015 0 comments

When I began playing, in U19s age group rugby, at Melrose, you had to have boiled white shorts, polished black boots and boiled white laces […]

My life in Rugby: Ben Skirving – former Bristol, Saracens, Bath and England lock

7 July 2015 0 comments

If I was asked to pick a standout moment in my rugby career I’d be hard pushed to name just one, the 13 years I’ve […]

My Life in Rugby: Paul Dodge – former Lions, England and Leicester centre

30 June 2015 0 comments

When I first started playing for Leicester at the grand old age of 17 we were lucky to get 200-300 people watching, and at Welford […]

My Life in Rugby: Martin Hynes – former Orrell, Northampton and England prop

16 June 2015 0 comments

When I told Ed Morrison I was retiring from rugby to start my own pest control business his response was that it made sense as […]

My Life in Rugby: John Mallett – former Bath and England prop

2 June 2015 0 comments

I was fortunate enough to come into the Bath side on the back of the club’s most successful era, playing in the pack alongside legends […]

My Life in Rugby: Jason Forster – former Wales, Dragons and Bedford flanker

26 May 2015 2 comments

It’s only when you look back on your career that you realise how special your time as a professional sportsman was; the camaraderie, banter and […]

My Life in Rugby: Rob Vickerman – former England Sevens captain, Newcastle and Yorkshire Carnegie centre

19 May 2015 0 comments

I appreciate that having read this feature a fair few times over the years it usually starts with a remarkable memory of a significant victory, […]

My life in Rugby: Andy Beattie – former Bath, Exeter and Richmond back-rower

12 May 2015 1 comment

During my 11 years with Bath I was fortunate to play alongside some great players and great leaders – Danny Grewcock, Steve Borthwick, Jon Humphreys […]

My Life in Rugby: Jim Jenner – former Worcester and Newcastle No.8

5 May 2015 1 comment

I’ve been fortunate to play all around the world in Sevens and with some of the best players in the world in 15s, enjoying a […]

My Life in Rugby: Peter Polledri – former Bristol back row

29 April 2015 1 comment

I was a scrum-half in my schooldays at St Brendan’s College, Bristol, all the way through to the sixth form until Elwyn Price, our coaching […]

My Life in Rugby: John Liley – former Leicester, Moseley, Worcester and Doncaster full-back

21 April 2015 1 comment

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back I should never had left Leicester for Moseley in the late Nineties. I’d had nine great years at […]

My Life in Rugby: Andy Gomarsall – former Wasps, Bedford, Gloucester, Quins, Leeds & England scrum-half

15 April 2015 1 comment

I’ll never forget getting the phone call telling me I was in the final squad of 30 for RWC 2003. I knew from the outset […]

My Life in Rugby: Terry Fanolua – former Gloucester, Brive and Samoa centre

7 April 2015 0 comments

Terry FanoluaI’m currently back at my home from home, Gloucester, coaching in schools as part of the club’s community programme. It’s great to be able […]

My Life in Rugby: Andre Snyman – former South Africa and Leeds centre

10 March 2015 1 comment

Missing out on three World Cups, one because of injury and two through politics, were the only real disappointments of a rugby career that saw […]

My Life in Rugby: David Pears – former Sale, Harlequins and England full-back

3 March 2015 0 comments

I won four caps for England, the last two against France in Paris, and we won both matches. I doubt many players will be able […]

My Life in Rugby: Eric Peters – Former Bath, Harlequins and Scotland No.8

24 February 2015 0 comments

It’s almost 20 years to the day that I scored the Famous Grouse Try of the Year for Scotland against Wales but I can still […]

My Life in Rugby: Braam Van Straaten – Former Leeds, Sale, Bulls & South Africa Fly-Half

17 February 2015 0 comments

Rugby and cricket were my passions growing up in Pretoria. Some friends still say I was a far better cricketer than rugby player, but opportunities […]