M
y rugby journey of course didn’t start in January 2016, but 30-odd years ago as a son of a local rugby stalwart who had dreams and aspirations of playing centre forward for Newcastle United, but the talent to suggest otherwise. I started off as an oversized wing for Gosforth minis on the Great North Road where a decent turn of pace and a man-child frame quickly propelled my interest in the game and confirmed that I was much better with my hands than my feet! As I entered my teens, with a clear love of food, my position bypassed the more favourable options and I found myself in the front row where not only did I pretty much stay there for the entirety of my school career, but I also slowly learned that it would serve me well to say, “No” to seconds and desert if I wanted to increase the shirt number on my back and provide greater opportunity to meet girls who I wanted to, rather than those who were left!
Grand Slam win: Paul with Maro Itoje, Saracens and England lock, Land Rover Discovery of the Season Award Winner
A Case for the Defence The last three months have been an incredibly exciting and invigorating journey as a national sports coach culminating in the particularly rare achievement of winning the utopian feat of a Grand Slam. The last time England won a Grand Slam was in 2003 and in our rich history of not only inventing, but also participating in the sport, this has been achieved a mere 12 times previously. We would like to think this augurs well for a more fruitful campaign in Japan 2019 than the last World Cup! By Paul Gustard (84-94) 8
I have unbelievably fond memories of my school playing days, the friends I played with, the teachers who sacrificed so much time, energy and passion such as Paul ‘local events and sport camp entrepreneur/millionaire’ Ponton (71-09), and John ‘Jonny’ ‘Wor Ball’ Armstrong (72-03). They were great fellas and great times. I loved my time at RGS and to mention those two teachers alone would be a disservice to a pantheon of significant people that helped mould me as a human being. Past and present teachers like Jon Punshon (81-96), Oli Edwards, Hazel Jones-Lee (84-09), Crispin Rowe (80-92) and Mike Downie were great inspiring teachers, and of course, there was the wonderful Judith Vivian (née Davies) (87-96) who helped inspire me and multiple generations of RGS pupils to bigger dreams. Paul playing for London Irish
