So tonight, Super Rugby kicks off again in Australia and I reckon 99% of my followers couldn't care less, but I want to quickly self-indulgently explain why that means a lot to me.

Like my father before me, I was an average player, a total of 4x 1st grade games but mainly a 3rd grade specialist.

But for my father and I, Rugby was a shared passion that bound us together.

Some of my favourite childhood memories are watching the Wallabies with my dad, or, as I got older calling my dad straight after a game to discuss it.

8yrs ago, my father passed away from cancer.

This was one of the last pictures taken of him, sitting in the stands with my mum watching me play.

(Yes that's me getting tackled)

My mother realised how crucial rugby was to my father and I's relationship, and she made such an effort to help fill that void.

Every Friday night, before my rugby games, she would come over to mine, I would cook Spaghetti, and we would watch Super Rugby.

I don't know how much she actually liked watching it, but I knew how much she wanted me to continue that passion with someone.

Many years on, I've since retired from Rugby. But again I've made Spaghetti and my Mum is coming over. Because the @NSWWaratahs are playing again.

After the year we've had, it's a really important piece of normality that puts the World on hold for a moment.

I don't have any pictures of us watching rugby together, but here is us playing tennis (another thing I used to do with Dad)

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. No real point to this thread other than to point out how awesome my mum is and also maybe explain why I occasionally get passionate about Rugby Union.