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: Rachael Burford – England women centre

7 January 2015 1 comment

Christmas is a great time to reflect on the year that has just gone and what a year it has been! We won the World […]

My Life in Rugby: James Forrester – former Gloucester and England back-rower

16 December 2014 1 comment

I once sped past Jonah Lomu to score a 65-metre try for England against the Barbarians at Twickenham that no-one seems to remember! The reason? […]

My Life in Rugby: Buster White – former Wasps flanker

11 December 2014 1 comment

The saying once a Wasp always a Wasp rings true with me, 100 per cent – even Coventry Wasps! Ironically my two boys play at […]

My Life in Rugby: Mike Schmid – Esher CEO and former Rotherham and Canada No.8

2 December 2014 0 comments

Some people may find it hard to believe now but Rotherham once went to the Stade Aime Giral and beat Perpignan in their own backyard. […]

My Life in Rugby: Steve Swindells – former Manchester, Waterloo, Barbarians and Cheshire fly-half

25 November 2014 1 comment

Being part of Manchester’s rise through the leagues from the North West region to what is now the Championship was a hugely enjoyable part of […]

My Life in Rugby: Paul Simpson – Gosforth, Bath and England flanker

19 November 2014 0 comments

In the space of a week, in 1987, I went from playing for England against Ireland at Lansdowne Road in front of 40,000 people to […]

My Life in Rugby: Mike Rafter – former Bristol and England back rower

11 November 2014 0 comments

Being one of 11 children I suppose it was inevitable that I had an ultra-competitive streak. That desire to win at everything and fight until […]

My Life in Rugby: Jon Renwick – Former Hawick, Harlequins, Scotland and Lions centre

5 November 2014 1 comment

I was fortunate to play in the Seventies when rugby was really taking off. There were empty spaces on the terraces at Murrayfield when I […]

My Life in Rugby: Kevin Moseley – former Pontypool, Newport and Wales lock

28 October 2014 0 comments

For the past nine years I have been a sports teacher at Bodmin College in Cornwall, and I’d like to think the students there have […]

My Life in Rugby: Derek Jelley – former Leicester and Rotherham prop

22 October 2014 0 comments

Over ten years on from leaving Leicester I still get goose bumps walking into the ground on match day. I spent a decade at the […]

My Life in Rugby: Steve Hanley – former Sale and England wing

14 October 2014 0 comments

I must be the only person to have started a season playing junior rugby in the old Fourth Division (North) and then go on and […]

My Life in Rugby: James Merriman – former Bristol, Gloucester and Wales Sevens flanker

7 October 2014 1 comment

Winning the Rugby Sevens World Cup with Wales five years ago has to be the standout moment of my career. We were written off before […]

My Life in Rugby: Ian Hunter – former England full-back

1 October 2014 0 comments

When I started playing for England, in 1991/92, I was seen as a big full-back – 6ft 2in and just shy of 16st. But now […]

My Life in Rugby: Graham Dawe – former Launceston, Bath and England hooker

24 September 2014 2 comments

I was fortunate to meet the great Nelson Mandela not once, but twice, having toured South Africa with England in 1994, just after the fall […]

My Life in Rugby: Eddie Saunders – former Coventry and Rugby winger

16 September 2014 2 comments

I’m very proud to be a member of the ‘100 Club’ – players who have scored a century or more league tries. I was the […]

My Life in Rugby: Tom Rees – former England and Wasps flanker

9 September 2014 0 comments

During my career I had the pleasure of working with some great guys, including Warren Gatland, Brian Ashton and Sir Ian McGeechan, but, on a […]

My Life in Rugby: Alan Buzza – Loughborough Students strategy manager

2 September 2014 0 comments

I always thought I’d play for England. Growing up in Cornwall you were surrounded by rugby and I seemed quite good at it, so naturally […]

My Life in Rugby: Scott Barrow – former Worcester, Orrell, Rotherham, Glasgow, Leeds & Fylde centre

26 August 2014 0 comments

If helping to keep Leeds in the Premiership in the 2010 was one of the highlights of my career getting relegated the year after was […]

My Life in Rugby: David Duckham – England and Lions winger

19 August 2014 0 comments

In one sense I was really grateful my career overlapped a great period for rugby in the British Isles. My game was all the better […]

My Life in Rugby: Nigel Heslop – former Orrell and England winger

11 August 2014 2 comments

Of my 10 appearances for England the two matches against the French in 1991 are probably the ones that people remember most but for completely […]

My Life in Rugby: Tony Stanger – former Hawick and Scotland wing

5 August 2014 0 comments

Looking back, it was probably touch and go as to whether I should have played in the famous 1990 Grand Slam decider against England. Between […]

My Life in Rugby- Former Waterloo, Saints, and Rotherham centre Andy Northey

29 July 2014 0 comments

People tend to view me as Rugby League man, but I actually only played for St Helens for two-and-a-half years, the rest of my playing […]

My Life in Rugby: Ian Davies – Cornish Pirates DoR

22 July 2014 0 comments

I wasn’t as good as my old friend Scott Quinnell playing for the New Dock Stars as a youngster but I was never expecting my […]

My Life in Rugby: Alan Martinovic – Hartpury College and former Colston’s director of rugby

8 July 2014 0 comments

There was a no grand plan when I joined Colston’s. The first XV won only one game in 1986 so to say we would become […]

My Life in Rugby: Tommy Hayes – former Shannon, Plymouth and Exeter lock

1 July 2014 2 comments

For a long time Exeter Chiefs had the tag of being chokers on the big stage, they’d come very close to promotion, lost a few […]

My Life in Rugby: Paul Hodgson – former England, London Irish, Worcester and Bristol scrum-half

24 June 2014 0 comments

My childhood dream was to play for England and I was lucky enough to do it and I’m also proud to have played more than […]

My Life in Rugby: Nick Kennedy – former London Irish, Toulon, Harlequins and England lock

17 June 2014 1 comment

Moving back to London Irish as academy director this summer feels like I’ve come full circle – I still remember sending Conor O’Shea an email […]

My Life in Rugby: Dave Walder – former Newcastle, Wasps and England fly-half

10 June 2014 0 comments

It took just ten seconds for me to go from total joy to utter despair – I got a call while sat at home in […]

My Life in Rugby: Paul Diggin – Northampton winger

3 June 2014 1 comment

The 2011 Heineken Cup final was devastating but we were dead on our feet after 60 minutes and couldn’t do anything to stop Leinster. We […]

My Life in Rugby: Stephen Jones – former Wales and Lions fly-half

27 May 2014 0 comments

The 2009 Lions tour was the most intensive period of my career. Some of the games were brutal and that second Test, when we lost […]

My Life in Rugby: Trevor Woodman England, Gloucester & Sale prop

20 May 2014 0 comments

I was talking to Mike Teague one evening after a few beers when I was going to have to retire and I said to him: […]

My Life in Rugby: James Hanks – former Exeter lock

13 May 2014 0 comments

After some time in the hospital I was told that I couldn’t play rugby again. That was a devastating moment for me because there was […]

My Life in Rugby: Rob Sidoli – Former Pontypridd, Cardiff Blues, Wales and current Dragons lock

6 May 2014 0 comments

I was with Pontypridd when I won my first Wales cap in 2002, and it was all the more special because four of my teammates […]

My Life in Rugby: Chris Whitehead – former Leicester, Bedford, Coventry, Wasps, London Welsh & Exeter hooker

30 April 2014 0 comments

Joining Wasps in 2009 was one of the worst decisions of my career. I was at Coventry and they wanted me to stay but the […]

My Life in Rugby: Declan Danaher – London Irish flanker

22 April 2014 1 comment

Playing international rugby there isn’t much place for modesty. I went to Argentina in 2002 as a 22-year-old and it was amazing – I loved […]

My Life in Rugby: Brett Deacon – former Leicester and Gloucester back-row

15 April 2014 2 comments

I had never played second row in my career and on my Premiership debut I was thrown in at the deep end. Luckily it was […]

My Life in Rugby: Hendre Fourie – former England, Sale, Leeds & Rotherham flanker

8 April 2014 0 comments

The pinnacle of my career came in the summer of 2010 – Leeds had just stayed in the Premiership and Martin Johnson rang me and […]

My Life in Rugby: Joe Shaw – former Sale, Northampton, Newcastle and England Sevens back

1 April 2014 1 comment

I will always cherish being part of the first England 7s team to win Hong Kong in 2002. We had people like Josh Lewsey, Simon […]

My Life in Rugby: Tim Taylor – former Gloucester, Saracens & Nottingham fly-half

25 March 2014 1 comment

Winning the LV= Cup with Glouc-ester was a great achievement in my career but the highlight has to be when I was part of the […]

My Life in Rugby: Pete Richards – former England scrum-half

18 March 2014 1 comment

Warren Gatland is famous for polishing rough diamonds. He took a risk on me and I look at that as the turning point in my […]

My Life in Rugby: Andy Hazell – former Gloucester and England flanker

11 March 2014 28 comments

I had been playing for Gloucester U17s and was told I wouldn’t get a pro contract. I’d already signed for a local team and was […]

My Life in Rugby: Carlo del Fava – Former Italy, Parma & Newcastle lock

4 March 2014 0 comments

During my international career with Italy I played in two World Cups and numerous Six Nations but nothing compares to the time I played for […]

My Life in Rugby: Simon Shaw – former lions, England & Wasps lock

25 February 2014 0 comments

In 1994 I went on the England tour to South Africa – the first post-Apartheid tour. That is a big highlight because it was not […]

My Life in Rugby: Jon Sleightholme – former Bath, Northampton & England wing

18 February 2014 0 comments

Scoring my first England try at Twickenham as we sealed the 1996 Five Nations title is probably my highlight. Not bad for a lad from […]

My Life in Rugby: John Beattie – Glasgow Accies, Scotland & Lions No.8

11 February 2014 1 comment

I was born in Borneo and went to an English boarding school in Penang, Malaysia, called Uplands. When I left to come back to Scotland […]

My Life in Rugby: Ricky Nebbett – former Harlequins, Leicester, Leinster and Esher prop

4 February 2014 0 comments

When I joined Harlequins as a teenager the first team had Brian Moore, Will Carling and Jason Leonard. It was basically the England team at […]

My Life in Rugby: Tim Stimpson – former Newcastle, Leicester, Perpignan & England full-back

28 January 2014 0 comments

The Lions tour in 1997 was the pinnacle of my career. It was a phenomenal experience. I was 23, just come through the system and […]

My Life in Rugby: Ali Hepher – former Northampton and Bedford fly-half

21 January 2014 1 comment

It was a funny one in terms of my 1st XV debut for Northampton. Having played a few games for the U19s, I’d left to […]

My Life in Rugby: Phil Christophers – former Bristol, Brive and England wing

14 January 2014 0 comments

After spending a year away from rugby I realised I didn’t want to finish my career on injuries. It was definitely the right choice. It […]

My Life in Rugby: Don Caskie – former London Scottish & Gloucester centre and Moseley & Georgia head coach

7 January 2014 1 comment

After my playing career I coached Georgia for the World Cup in New Zealand – an outstanding experience all-round. It is the pinnacle of most […]

My Life in Rugby

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