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The main lesson from Nathan Hirayama’s dozen years as a top-flight rugby player is a lesson for all of us: find something that makes you happy and do it as much as possible.

“I’m having as much fun playing now as I ever have,” the Richmond-born-and-raised rugby sevens superstar acknowledged this week, ahead of the Canada Sevens at B.C. Place.

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He’s had countless teammates, more than a handful of coaches, but the one constant in his life has been fun.

Why else would he keep coming back? When it comes to a rugby career in Canada, it’s certainly not the money.

And so, yes, 12 years into his adult rugby career, Hirayama still can’t quite believe he’s still at it. He may be leading the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in scoring this season, but for him, why he’s playing rugby is much more basic: it’s about having fun.

As a teen, he found the game at McRoberts Secondary in Richmond. It gave him a group of friends that he still connects with.

And it’s taken him around the world and exposed him to a slew of teammates and coaches, who have all made an impact on him.

“I just really loved rugby at that age,” he says, recalling his fall 2006 start in men’s rugby, when he was fresh out of high school.

Now he’s on the cusp of 30. “I played with a few guys in their late 20s…I never thought I’d be one of those guys.”