A change of schools is usually a bit disruptive for most ten year olds. When it’s from a football playing English medium to and rugby playing Afrikaans one – the change can be traumatic. Playstation can change all that …

Such was the case recently with a Father and son. Dad buys a rugby ball, tosses it at his David Beckham wannabee son and says “We’ll get through this change together my boy, one pass at a time.” “If you really want to help Dad,” says the son, “get me Playstation Rugby 2004” It was Dad’s fault that they had to move, so he’s looking to earn some points and does just that. For the next few weeks, son picks his position (inside centre) and spends hours playing the game – learning the rules, understanding the tactics, getting his timing right, tackling effectively, teaching himself to do hand offs and basically honing his virtual “ball” skills. In true fairytale fashion, come the day of trials – he pull of some amazing hand offs, is the best defensive player on the field and he makes the first team as … an inside centre. No moral here, just a great story on how younger generations are experiencing less and less of a distinction between the virtual and the real world … and hey, maybe the virtual world is the real world!