There was a stream alongside the road and far down the pass he saw a mill beside the stream and the falling water of the dam, white in the summer sunlight.
With both sides falling foul of referee Rob Debney and conceding a stream of penalties at rucks and scrums the match was a stop-go, error-strewn affair from the fifth minute front-row flare-up which handed Cipriani his opening penalty.
He stressed the idea of having a "grammar stream" in every school to stretch the brightest pupils and give extra support to those at risk of falling behind.