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“I’ve got a long way to go but I do feel I’m in a prepped spot,” he said Friday, just before the team’s departure.

He managed real life well enough and school of course kept him busy, but there was something missing.

“It also taught me I miss rugby; the game itself, the group,” he said. “High-performance sport is so unique in pushing yourself, in having a common goal. You don’t get that out of everyday life.”

He retired on the eve of the 2016-17 season, but kept in touch with former national team coach Damian McGrath. He did get a call-up in 2017 to play for the national XVs squad, but hasn’t had any game time since. There was the odd practice with a local club and he trained for a few weeks with McGrath’s squad last summer, but mostly he has been keeping fit on his own.

And most of that fitness work has come through road cycling and yoga; a far cry from the weights standards he’d pushed for in rugby. Real life meant he was never going to be able to keep himself at the fitness and power levels needed to be successful in modern rugby sevens.

“It became all about sweating,” he said. “Mentally, the game takes a little bit getting used to. The reality was I did as much as I could, in the gym and running on the field, but it was nothing like being in a game.”

Six weeks ago, and with the support of UBC, he saw an opening to put in a full-time effort and was welcomed back by McGrath’s successor, interim head coach Henry Paul. With the Lima Games coming on the end of a long season, the chance to add some fresh legs, even if they were a bit rusty, was too good for the Kiwi-raised coach to ignore.