Assuming this is the thread for posting about the Six Nations, I want to prepare for this year's Six Nations by regaling you all with a parable from the greatest rugby coach that ever graced a rugby field...
“I want to tell you a story about a seventeen-year-old Italian boy by the name of Gucci. One evening his father came up to him and said, ‘My son, you’re getting to that age when you’ve got to work out what you’re going to do with your life.’
‘Well, my father,’ his son replies, ‘as a matter of fact I’ve been thinking about that and what I’m going to do is to go into the clothing business.’
‘That’s wonderful, my son. I’m really happy that you have been giving this some thought, but unfortunately here in Italy everyone’s in clothing and you’re not going to be able to compete.’
‘Well, my father, I’ve thought about that too. What I’m going to do is use the best products, the best designs, the best tailors. I’ll be able to complete because I’ll have a really wonderful product to sell.’
To which his father replied, ‘Well, again I’m happy, son, because you’ve obviously been thinking a great deal, but unfortunately there is a small problem – if you use only the best of everything, you’re going to have to charge the top price and no one will be able to afford your gear.’
And his son’s answer is the one which can carry you all the way through life. His son replied, ‘Yes, my father, but long after the price is forgotten, the quality will remain.’
And so what was ever-after known as the ‘Gucci factor’ was born. Do the hard work now and you’ll have long forgotten the pain but the rewards of the work will stay with you.”
Alan Belford Jones
