The date 19 October 1993 is not seminal in rugby history. I only remember it because it was the day Jeremy Goss scored that volley against Bayern Munich. I was watching with my right arm in a cast. Hours earlier a rolling maul rolled all the way on to my arm and snapped my ulna. I lay on the floor while play continued. It was freezing. It was always freezing when we played rugby. Eventually the game stopped and Mr Toy came over.
“Can you wiggle your fingers? Good it’s not broken … Now go in and get changed.” I gingerly yanked off my muddy purple shirt and put it back in my locker, managed to get my school uniform on and then waited for my mum to pick me up. The pain was mitigated by the delight of: a) having a cast (pretty cool); and b) knowing I’d miss a whole term of that terrible sport.
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