Is It In The Genes

We are now seeing so many children of older generation club players coming through into first class rugby, I have just spotted another Sleightholme coming through the ranks at Saints; Frankie is playing for the U18s tomorrow, that is to go with the two Graysons, Connor Tupai and of course the recently departed and hopefully to return "Prince" Harry Mallinder. There are a lot more but I am only looking at the current players.

There are numerous other instances ranging from the Beaumonts to the Lynaghs and the Tuilagis and so many of them are very successful going on to have long club careers, some emulating their parents at international level.

Is it just the life that they have lead following their fathers love of the support and naturally playing junior rugby for their father club, or is it something in the genes that elevates them to the higher standard. My kids despite both being of a very suitable size and liking the game could never make it work for them, they didn't really enjoy the ultra physical side of both being local club lock/large flanker types, whereas I loved it and therefore excelled

Unquestionably.  But please keep in mind our genetic soup looks an awful a lot like my grandmother's chicken stew on steroids.  Full of so much miscellaneous crap, it's amazing the whole human reproduction and evolution process works at all.  Breeding two big dogs (or tall people) only increases the possibility of bigger dogs.  But there is certainly a much better chance of tall people having tall kids as opposed to shorter people.

In the past (if not now in some places) some countries tried to make smarter people by breeding other smart people together.  However this always failed because the smart young people quickly learned it is easier to make their money by age 40, then retire and spend the rest of their lives just doing drugs instead of trying to overthrow the current world order.  Which of course highlights the difference between the current generation of brilliant people and the one (or two) before.  My generation would never tolerate the drugs without the sex and rock and roll.

doctor_grey wrote:Unquestionably.  But please keep in mind our genetic soup looks an awful a lot like my grandmother's chicken stew on steroids.  Full of so much miscellaneous crap, it's amazing the whole human reproduction and evolution process works at all.  Breeding two big dogs (or tall people) only increases the possibility of bigger dogs.  But there is certainly a much better chance of tall people having tall kids as opposed to shorter people.  

In the past (if not now in some places) some countries tried to make smarter people by breeding other smart people together.  However this always failed because the smart young people quickly learned it is easier to make their money by age 40, then retire and spend the rest of their lives just doing drugs instead of trying to overthrow the current world order.  Which of course highlights the difference between the current generation of brilliant people and the one (or two) before.  My generation would never tolerate the drugs without the sex and rock and roll.

I think, based on personal experience, there is a different reason for the cap on smart people but it doesn't make for easy reading. In brief my eldest son is one of the smartest people I know and if he ever holds down any kind of job at all I would be immensely happy.