To be the 100th person to serve as President of the Rugby Football Union is a tremendous honour and as I took up office the O2 Scrum on the Beach programme was taking off, attracting young adults up and down the country.

This will help us to keep young adult players who will gain a great deal from our sport. Rugby union has given me so much since I first played at my grammar school: I acquired an understanding of team spirit, discipline and respect both for the referee and the opposition and a huge group of friends.

The RFU’s work in inner cities and deprived rural areas is bringing the opportunity to play rugby to more and more young people. And many of them, like me, come from families new to the game.

I very much value the support being given by parents to our young players newly attracted to the sport. What we have to do as a Union is to encourage those parents to support their children in a positive way. We have to ensure that they become part of the rugby family and get them involved in coaching courses, refereeing courses, helping with administration so that we expand our number of volunteers and their understanding of the values and rules of rugby union.

We have a responsibility to give a new generation of youngsters the enjoyment and the values that we were given. We must make sure that rugby’s friendships, trust, give and take, winning and losing, dedication and discipline enrich the lives of a new generation of players as they grow up.