Landscape gardening helped Simon Shaw learn how to dig deep as a player in England's rugby union team
I was born in Kenya. It wasn't until I came to the UK, when I was about 16, that I really became aware of what a Saturday job was. It was also when I was introduced to rugby.
This was in the late 1980s, in the game's amateur days. I was asked by a side in New Zealand if I would like to play out there. It was basically like a gap-year arrangement, not me doing sport full time. The club paid for my flights and accommodation, so all I needed to do was to earn my spending money.
I had a variety of jobs. For a while I did landscape gardening for a guy I played rugby with at Cranleigh, in Surrey. I had to get up ridiculously early, 5.30am or something. In one sense it suited me quite well, lugging stuff around the place, and occasionally I got to drive a digger and churn up someone's garden. I don't have terribly fond memories of it though, to be honest. It was freezing cold, up at the crack of dawn and really hard work. I did my best but I don't think I was much good at it ? more often than not I'd take out someone's sprinkler head or something like that.
I worked in a video shop for a while too. It was more of an evening job and it wasn't terribly busy as I recall, so as a result I mostly just sat around watching videos.
Then I got a job in a health spa as a swimming pool attendant, saving lives in a pool where the deepest point was about 5ft ? I'm 6ft 8in so I could pretty much wade through it. Celebrities would pop up every now and again: Roger Moore stayed a couple of times, as did Kylie Minogue, Sarah Ferguson and Jackie Collins.
Regardless of what I was doing I aways put huge effort in. I wanted to make sure the boss was happy with my day's labour, even if I cost him a few bob here and there. I've always had that ethos; basically, you aim to please.
Simon Shaw is representing the England team on behalf of QBE, the official insurance partner of England rugby
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/mar/19/simon-shaw-my-saturday-job
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