At 16, after his dad died, Steve Diamond stepped into his shoes as he was handed his job at the local printers. He was a cog in the wheel of a 2,000-strong workforce, pumping out millions of newspapers a day. Thanks to the union, it was paid well, too, £300 a week by the age of 18. A job for life.

The Stylist front cover changed perceptions, the naked photoshoot was part of a new movement, but a front rower that could play wing at sevens? Now that is something to talk about. Meet Vicky Fleetwood. Game changer.

At 5am, under the watchful eye of the duty master, a schoolboy Brad Barritt stood, statue-still, for a 40-minute uniform inspection. It was old school, in every sense. South African schools were tough, but his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all Rhodesian internationals, so he was made of sterner stuff.

The daily life of Matt Williams used to involve deals with Hollywood execs, launching girlbands across the planet, making movies with the Harry Potter team, and helping the Hannah Montana soundtrack go platinum. Today, it’s much harder. Finding rugby refs for friendly fixtures and helping to get Chinnor RFC promoted from National One.

The leg cracked three times as the weight of the opposing forward sent Henry Slade in the opposite direction to his limb. It wasn’t going to be good. It hurt like hell, but he wasn’t going to have gas and air, not after what happened to Ben White.

This man could’ve been processing your driving licence. instead, he won grand slams, tamed the beast and has just finished the lego friends snow resort hot chocolate van – with a little help from Isla

A new Facebook group aimed at rugby fans in the US has become a social media hit with players of the world ‘sharing’ a drink and helping to fight mental health issues during the COVID-19 shutdown

Frontrower Vez has been targeted, victimised and bullied. He’s had blood spat in his mouth after a tackle; and had rugby ‘fans’ shout everything from, ‘get the fat bastard man off the pitch’ to ‘put her face in mud, let her drown’. And that’s before the endless stream of social media abuse. Vez has considered, ‘not being here’ many times. This is what can happen when you’re a transgender rugby player. And, he says, it needs to change.

In 1492, Henry VII held a month-long tournament with minstrels, stilt-walkers, jesters and rope dancers, with revelry spilling from palace to Richmond Green – all to the sound of splintered lances and men crashing to the floor as jousting took centre stage. Less than 400 years later, a football club named after the town started playing ‘rugby’ on the very same ground. It was then that things got interesting.

The VI Barbarians, a rugby side for visually impaired players who are registered blind, have competed in their first club tournament, winning the plate competition after defeating host side Southgate RFC.

“If nothing else,” probably thought Catherine of Aragon as she was handed her divorce papers in the castle, “at least I’ll put this lovely town of Ampthill on the map”. Sadly, she didn’t. That job has now been left, almost 500 years later, to four Tongans and a Welshman called Paul.

The beauty of the Yorkshire Dales has a tendency to lull people into a false sense of security. ‘What are we doing here?’ the opposition are often heard asking. It’s then, they know they’ve got them, and the tweed-covered faithful of The Avenue start to roar.

On an island famous for speed, the seeds are being sown for a new national rugby side. Helping them grow are Portuguese, Kiwis, Namibians and, for one weekend only, Bryan Habana.

Almost 25 years after Kerry Packer attempted to change the face of rugby with a global series, another Australian has gone one step further. In May this year, Perth’s mining billionaire Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, helped Western Force rise from the ashes with the launch of World Series Rugby.

Last summer, Alun Wyn Jones took on and defeated his home nations rivals to earn the right to face the greatest rugby side on the planet, the All Blacks, in their own backyard. This year, it’s Play-Doh, colouring-in, and a quarter of a caravan in west Wales. Alun Wyn Jones: Lion, Osprey, Welsh hero, is on holiday.

The Rugby Journal has sponsored the team shirts for the Visually Impaired Barbarians as they prepare for their first-ever domestic competition.

Gareth Davis hadn’t expected to be told he was blind. He’d played county-level rugby, he loved the game, but his sight was going. He knew it, but didn’t want to acknowledge it. When he read it in black and white, that was it. What was he going to do next?

When eventually Danny Cipriani stopped. When his life stopped going from game to game, club to club, trophy to trophy. When he was on his own, on the other side of the world, for the first time ever, he was hit by depression. Questions about his life he’d never thought or had time to ask, began to emerge to darken his days. Even for the gifted, life isn’t always easy.

When Shaun Edwards first had the chance to coach England, he had no choice but to say no, he wasn’t ready. He spoke to his mum, Phyllis, and they agreed, it was too soon after his brother Billy had died. He needed the day-to-day of rugby to keep him busy. Rugby was what was going to keep him going – he wasn’t going to let his mind get the better of him.

Eyes streaming, face distorted, arms aching and head being forced downwards; the g-force pounds Heather Fisher as she hurtles at 80mph down the fastest and steepest bobsleigh track in the world. She’d learnt every turn, but her mind is blank. Like running through ‘windmills while in a tumble drier’, not even rugby is like this.