The blond hair earned him the moniker ‘Straw Man’, but Peter Winterbottom was anything but. Built of farming stock, strengthened by seasons in New Zealand and South Africa, he became one of England’s legendary opensides. But when he made his international debut, few, including the man himself, thanks to one individual, could remember he was even on the pitch.

The birthplace of colour television, Sid Vicious, and Gary Oldman, the London borough of Lewisham isn’t short of claims to fame, but even in a crowded arena, World Cup winner Sadia Kabeya stands out as one of their very best.

The president needed the shirt to be in South Africa for the final, and it had to be the same number as the captain, it was important. It was more than a shirt, it was a symbol, for a country, for its future. Fran Cotton has done many things in rugby, but getting a shirt shipped to the Rainbow Nation for the 1995 World Cup final, might just top the lot.

He’d won a Grand Slam, should’ve won a World Cup, and was considered among the best in the world, but to some fans he just wasn’t Brian O’Driscoll. So much so, they needed to find Jonathan ‘Fox’ Davies and break his legs.

Captaincy, a century of England caps and his daughter Lydia all arrived soon after the passing of his beloved mum, but when Jamie George returns to his hometown club of Hertford, the echoes of her vociferous support still resonate.

Even with a professional contract being offered, Alex Matthews didn’t want to sign it. She was questioning herself, her mindset, even her ability to pass and catch a rugby ball. But, she loved rugby. Really loved rugby. She just had to rediscover that love, then who knew what might happen next.

Christchurch High School was famed for producing All Blacks, and when Dan Carter arrived as a teenager he was overwhelmed by what he saw. So much so, he lost his love for the game, opting to avoid senior rugby and instead play with his mates. It could have meant the end of his rugby dreams, but instead it was the beginning.

She’s been world player of the year, a three-time domestic champion, seven-time Six Nations winner, and captained both club and country. But, without a World Cup win later this year, Zoe Stratford knows something will still be missing.

Mike Catt’s rugby career started when he got bored of backpacking around England and gave Bath a call, Gareth Chilcott answered. Then, an eventful career unfolded, taking in press hammerings, injuries, World Cup glory, a Lions Test and, of course, Jonah Lomu. 

A mercurial fly-half who faced the Lions in 1989, played The Varsity Match when it mattered, and was part of Harlequins in the star-studded Carling era, Kent Bray had an enviable rugby life. But off the field, as a trader, his cocaine addiction would spiral to thirty grams a week, leaving him on the edge of the abyss.

A journey that truly began when he decided to start ‘kicking shit out of public schoolboys’, ended as cult hero of the British & Irish Lions. Scorer of a famous Lions try, a Test starter in a South Africa series victory, a dual-code rugby professional, and the most famous cameraman of the late-1990s. This is John Bentley.

On a 1970s Penguins tour of the Soviet Union, a destination too risky for England, where hotel rooms were bugged and receptions frosty, one man made a swift trade selling jeans to KGB agents. Maurice Colclough was unique, as memorable off the pitch, as he was on it.

In 1990, Debs, Sue, Mary and Alice decided that women should have their own Rugby World Cup. Against impossible odds, they delivered it in ten months. Netflix will tell you that dramatising rugby isn’t easy. Turns out they just chose the wrong story.

One game, two tries, but Joe Cokanasiga’s World Cup ended there. In truth, it ended the moment he got off the plane. His biggest challenge would then begin: surgery, rehab, piling on the pounds, playing, then injured again. At this point, he was done with rugby.

When Sam Matavesi signed up for the Navy at 24, rugby seemed part of his past. But a twist of fate took him from the deck to the world’s biggest rugby stage, reinvented, reunited with his brother, and even sharing the dressing room with Antoine Dupont. In the end, the Navy didn’t end his dream, it made it possible.

Before he donned the white of England, Semesa Rokoduguni wore the green of the Army. From Afghanistan to the Premiership, his story is one of service, sacrifice and gratitude, and now, of giving back to the uniform that shaped him.

Eight years after a Parkinson’s diagnosis that could have ended his coaching days, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Osman is still leading from the front, as the UKAF head coach rallies his side for a Remembrance clash with Germany that’s about far more than rugby.