Back in his prime, a mean-looking Dean Richards running at the opposition on a rugby pitch was as terrifying a sight as it could get.
Which is why watching the England legend mingle with children yesterday during the first day of the Etihad Harlequins Rugby School at the Al Ghazal Golf Club in Abu Dhabi did seem odd.
Most of the 50 Emiratis from Al Yasmina and Hamooda Binali schools hadn't the faintest idea as to who the huge man towering above them was.
It hardly mattered to Richards, who was only too happy to play a part in promoting rugby among a nationality very new to the sport. "It's spreading the word about rugby isn't it?" said Richards.
"A lot of the kids here today would have never picked up a rugby ball before. So from that point of view it's a great opportunity [for them] to experience what rugby is all about.
"You have to start somewhere. To give the Emiratis the opportunity to sample the taste of what rugby is all about even on a small scale like this is great for us," he added.
The current Director of Rugby for Harlequins Rugby Football Club was joined by two of his players, club skipper Will Skinner and England winger David Strettle.
And the duo were clearly enjoying stepping into the coaching role though Strettle could not be actively involved due to a broken metatarsal.
All for love
"We love coming out here introducing the game to kids in a new area. They've got the enthusiasm and the talent for it. They seem very similar to me when I was that age," said Skinner.
Mohammad Al Moharbi was an extremely satisfied young man having learnt "how to score and stop the opposition from scoring" from Skinner. The experience has inspired him to a mission of his own. "When I return to school, I would like to teach the boys who love football how to play rugby," said the 11-year-old.
Richards believed it to be a highly probable mission. "Anybody with any footballing ability can play rugby. Even if we get 10 to 15 kids from today playing rugby later it will have been a success," said the winner of 48 England caps.
Away from the tigers: Skinner follows richards' path to harlequins
Dean Richards and Will Skinner belong to different eras all right but their careers seem to have taken them to the same destinations. Richards spent two decades at Leicester Tigers before he was sacked as Director of Rugby by the club in 2004.
The following year saw him being appointed in the same role at Harlequins. Skinner graduated from the Tigers youth ranks but decided to join Richards in London in the summer of 2006. Incidentally both are immensely pleased with their decision to switch to the Quins.
"I look back on it now and I think it happens for a reason," said Richards of his painful separation from the Tigers. "Since then I've had a fantastic three years at Harlequins. I arrived when we were in the second division, we got promoted, we have gone into the Heineken Cup twice. Although the departing year at Leicester was unfortunate, it's part of life and you get on."
Richards also played a key role in reigniting the career of Skinner, as the latter revealed.
"Dean's been very influential in my career. He noticed me when I was playing for school and signed me for a first professional contract straight after school at Leicester.
"He gave me an opportunity to develop my game. There was some great coaching and mentoring from him," said the 24-year-old flanker.
"Things started slowing up at Leicester and I wasn't playing much rugby as I wanted to and he gave me an opportunity to come and play at Harlequins which is the best move I could ever have made.
"My rugby has developed and so have my leadership skills so it's been brilliant."