One of Welsh rugby's great characters happiest he's been for years after having a 'gutsful' of life as a pro

It took an outing for Seven Sisters RFC in Division Two West Central to remind Tavis Knoyle just why he started playing rugby in the first place. By his own admission, the Welsh international scrum-half had stopped enjoying the game over the previous couple of years with the Dragons, amid injuries, successive defeats and long team meetings.

In February of this year, he parted company with the Men of Gwent and it was unclear what the future held for him. But now, having just turned 32 this week, he is raring to go again, after signing for Premiership club Merthyr. As he explains, it was a return to the grass roots in March that rekindled the flame for him.

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“I went and had a game for Seven Sisters with my brother-on-law, who is my best friend. I had about 30 minutes off the bench against Morriston and I really enjoyed it," he says.

“Then I had a game for Glynneath against Tondu a couple of weeks later where I came on in the centre. It was really nice to go back. It made me realise I do still love the game.

“It made me remember why I started playing in the first place. You play because you care, you play because you love it. You’ve got so much passion for it as a kid. You don’t play for money, you play because you actually love the game.

"You just love being out in the fresh air competing. There’s no meetings after meetings, there’s no nitty bitty things to it. All it is is a game of rugby and you go out and enjoy it. It’s a skill and an art, at the end of the day, and a stress reliever.

“As the years go on, it just becomes more of a business and you can lose track of why you started playing rugby. Since I finished with the Dragons in February,