At the 2016 Rio Olympics, New Zealand won eighteen medals, the biggest haul in their history and a stark contrast to 2000, when they took just four back across the Tasman. Among those leading the change was a Scottish-born synchronised swimmer called Katie Sadleir, now she’s trying to create even bigger change, in women’s rugby. 

At the end of the game, she could feel the tears in the crowd. The journey had come to an end. Ruby Tui, a girl inspired by her superhero mum, who could so easily have taken so many wrong turns, was on top of the world.

The pain shot like a bolt between his shoulders, unlike anything he’d ever felt. He was out running and looked towards strangers in the park, pondering whether to ask for their help. Deciding against it, Clive Griffiths ran home instead and, hours later, was in the ICU having had a heart attack.

Her father was a pimp and her mother was a prostitute. Aged 18 months old, she was abandoned and raised in care. Education was her way out and she went on to manage a supermodel, Michelin-starred chefs, Peter Gabriel and become the most influential woman in English rugby. ‘Remarkable’ doesn’t begin to do justice to the story of Maria Pedro.

Aged nineteen, Jimmy Gopperth walked into a changing room with Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga. All he had to do, he was told by the All Blacks’ captain, was ‘be loud and push us around the field’. That was the easy bit. What wasn’t so easy, was displacing Dan Carter.

Negotiating with naked head coaches, bartering shares in Cardiff airport, finding dates with pop stars, there’s little rugby agents haven’t had to contend with in the relatively brief era of professionalism. But in an industry where there are just 700 professionals being served by 115 agents, it’s little wonder they’re always willing to go the extra mile.

George Kruis freely admits he was crap at rugby. A late developer, he joined his local club for the beers and barbecues rather than trophies, but ended up winning them by the shedload. Even in Japan, he’s on course for back-to-back titles. But there won’t be one last tilt at a World Cup. Aged 32, he’s finishing. On a high.

On a mountain in Alaska, having seen her Olympic dream come to an end, in her mind Alev Kelter battled everything. She questioned celibacy, her sexuality, her life goals, her purpose. And she found answers. Then, back at the lodge, rugby found her.

In the South Hams, the prettiest of places you’ve probably never visited, the women of Ivybridge RFC are challenging for honours. At the helm? Possibly rugby’s only husband and wife team, Georgie and Ben Gulliver. 

In 22 seconds, the ball went from one end of the pitch to another, passing through the hands of eight Barbarians, with jinks, dummies and attempted decapitations in between. It was the try, one that will never be forgotten, just like the man who scored it, Sir Gareth Edwards.

When Jonny Wilkinson was at his zenith in 2003, sessions with his kicking coach Dave Alred quite often turned to farce. Literally. As well as sketch comedy, satire and one-liners from Naked Gun, Dave knew how to keep Jonny in the zone. Just as he knew how to improve Stuart Barnes’ spiral bombs, Jonny Sexton’s drop goals and Beauden Barrett’s restarts. For rugby’s kicking coach to the stars, every day’s a school day.

England were a shambles. A quarter-final World Cup defeat to Wales, fifth place in the Five Nations and without a title for almost a decade. The new coach Geoff Cooke was part of the answer, the other came in the form of a 22-year-old son of a Lieutenant Colonel called Will Carling.

On the Promenade des Anglais, a huge curve of golden beach in Nice, where the English have  been welcome ever since the days when Queen Victoria wintered there, Steffon Armitage is enjoying a homecoming to the city where he first fell love in with rugby.

In the space of just one week last year, Claudia MacDonald managed to produce a career-defining performance against the Black Ferns, while also suffering from an injury that almost brought her career to an end.

When the world shut down, a seventeen-year-old Henry Arundell got to work. Borrowing weights from his neighbours, he made himself 6kg bigger, stronger and fitter. Even though a six-month injury intervened, he’d still paved the way to a try-scoring England debut after just two league starts. 

Rejected by Leicester as a teenager, even the slightly longer route he took to professionalism, still saw Tommy Freeman break into Eddie Jones’ England squad aged just 21. Now, all his coaches have to do, is not coach him too much.

John Dobson was enjoying victory. A parade through Cape Town to celebrate the Stormers’ first international trophy, a profound experience for a man who has only ever coached professioanlly in Western Province. But it didn’t come close to that day in 2007 when he sat in C-Max in Pretoria Central Prison, and came face-to-face with ‘prime evil’ himself. 

Within months of his rugby career ending with a little help from the hip of Tim Visser, Chris Cusiter moved to LA. Since then, he’s done everything you’re not supposed to do, all at the same time, including losing a $6,000 bottle of vintage Cognac.

The sport had never seen a player like him. For Waisale Serevi time seemed to stand still. A game-changer unlike any other, he changed not only the game, but also his country. And the reason he played? The 1977 Lions.

Eileen Dallaglio walked up to Jack Rowell, and tapped him on the shoulder. “Who are you?” asked the England coach. “I’m the mother of the number eight you brought on 25 minutes too late ... he needs to start.” The coach walked off saying nothing, but Lawrence Dallaglio started the next game.