And just like that, in half a nano-second, I was standing on a muddy rugby pitch in eastern France in 1981. I played for ASPTT Nancy, with Nancy being the town where I was living and teaching evening classes to adults. My classes in the week that followed all wanted to know how the tooth had been broken. As he worked to rebuild the broken tooth he told me how superior French cars were to British cars, French food to British food, French everything to British everything. And now, this week, that 45-year-old repair that I have lugged around the world has crumbled and I am back to how I was on that French rugby pitch in 1981.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 25, 2026 15:38 UTC