Room 101: Sam Raven – former Leicester, Nottingham, Pirates & Rugby lock

1. Small talk
A big pet hate of mine is coming home from work/rugby and being asked by the Mrs about how my day has been, what have I been up to etc. etc. For goodness sake she knows what I do for a living so why feel the need to ask? The boots, muddy kit bag and bruises are a pretty good clue! Maybe I’m just ignorant, but I don’t think I’ve ever asked the same question back. When I get in I just want to chill; there is a lot to be said for sitting quietly. Ironically, you can never shut me up in the dressing room environment.
TRP verdict:  We’ll do anything for a quiet life, you’re in.
2. Rival kit companies (I’m an opportunist)
I’m fortunate to work as a sales manager for BLK Sport, who supplied the kit for the Wallabies this autumn. Clearly the fewer stash (kit) companies there are on the market the better for me, as it means less competition. But I have say that some of them, naming no names, shouldn’t be selling kit anyway. Players love good stash not some rubbish gear with a badge on it. In my opinion there are three or four quality suppliers out there, BLK www.blksport.com of course being one of them. As well as the Wallabies we supply Fiji, Samoa, Super Rugby, NZRL, Nottingham and Connacht.
TRP verdict:  Room 101? Apparel-ntly not.
3. Recruitment consultants
I can’t see the point of recruitment consultants. To me they are just an unnecessary middle man taking a cut. What makes them so qualified to know if you are good enough or not to be put forward for a job? It breaks me when you read about the RFU or whoever spending tens of thousands of pounds on recruitment consultants to find ‘the right man’. Surely your prospective employers should decide if you get an interview or not?
TRP verdict:  The job’s a good ‘un. You’re in.