I HAD the distinct honour of being invited by Jamie Sears of Thameside Hospitality and Events, to attend Quilter Cheviot’s International Rugby Dinner at L’Horizon on Thursday, and listen to a pair of rugby greats reminisce on their decorated careers in the sport.
The word “legend” is too often banded around these days, but for these two, it barely does them justice.
Lewis Moody earned 71 caps with England over a ten-year span, which saw him hold aloft the famed Webb Ellis Cup in 2003, while Kiwi Zinzan Brooke played 58 tests for the All Blacks, and is widely considered to be one of the best No.8s to have ever donned the famous New Zealand kit.
He, like Moody, was also part of a Rugby World Cup-winning side in 1987, the first of the All Blacks’ three to date, with two more following in 2011 and 2015.
“Zinny”, as he is affectionately known, reinvented the wheel at his bruising position, displaying a unique agility to run and also kick with the ability one would expect from a back.
Most rugby enthusiasts’ lasting memory of the now 59-year-old are of his remarkable 48-metre drop goal for the All Blacks in the 1995 Rugby World Cup against England, but what stuck with me from the evening, was that Brooke’s most poignant memories of the sport, were at the grassroots level.
“I miss the excitement of being on a bus with your teammates,” said the Kiwi.
“Travelling around and touring when you were a kid, those are some of the best memories I have of the sport.”
That really struck a chord with me. Here you have a true great of the game, who has played in multiple Rugby World Cups, winning one, and in doing so, achieving more than most professional athletes would even dream of. Yet, buried in amongst all the accolades and victories in Kiwi black, Brooke touchingly reminisced on the sport’s simpler pleasures.
For someone who once played golf to a reasonable standard, it was so easy to get caught up in the journey.
Playing four years of college golf in the United States brought a stress and anxiety I had never felt before. Taking to the first tee at most tournaments, with an underlying fear that a string of poor finishes could cost me my scholarship. During that period of my life, I played the majority of my golf tight and nervous, as opposed to the freedom and excitement I felt as a child.
I did manage to win once across my four-year university span, something which I remain proud, given the abundance of golfing talent across the collegiate system in the US.
However, Brooke’s remarks really forced me to think introspectively on the drive home. Now I never got anywhere close to the standard that Zinny did on the world stage, but I too, realised that my happiest memories came at a time where golf felt more like a hobby than a chore.
The period of my life where I would go out and play with my dad at eight or nine and just the feeling of striking a shot out the middle of the club, with dad’s approval, exhilarated me.
I guess the underlying lesson that Brooke subconsciously taught, is that sometimes the purest memories can stem from the grassroots side of sport.
Professionalism brings a certain level of expectation and therefore pressure to perform.
It’s all too easy to forget the reason why you started the journey in the first place.
For our budding sportsmen and women, I think holding onto that feeling of excitement and joy when on a team bus, or travelling to and from matches in the UK, is so important.
From a local rugby standpoint, Jersey RFC’s Minis and Juniors are able to travel off-Island to compete much more frequently than yesteryear.
And if you ask their parents, or coaches that once stood in their shoes, they’ll most likely say that being a part of that team was the best time of their lives. Most just won’t know it until they are much older.
