MY SCHOOL DAYS/Peter Stringer: Ireland and Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer's life has been dominated by rugby since he was six

We lived about a mile from Cork city centre in Ballinloch. I went to St Anthony's national school, about 10 yards across the road from our house. It was great - you could jump out of bed at 8.50 a.m. and be in school on time. My earliest memories of it were that I loved it. Lots of my friends from the area went, which made it very easy.

There were green spaces and parks all around. Sport was very popular during and after school. Nearly all the teachers were into sport, so there were always soccer matches or something arranged. Teachers gave up their time to do that and you looked forward to it at the end of the lessons.

I was generally good in school. But the most frightening experience I've come across is being in trouble with a teacher as a young fella. If you're sent out of class or told to go and stand at the principal's office, it's very threatening. One early memory I have of trouble was in junior infants. I was sitting beside this guy and messing about. I broke a strap on his schoolbag; it was one of those bags with a leather strap and a big buckle - the buckle came off. At that age, you take it a lot more seriously when another child is upset or crying. For weeks afterwards I was literally shaking any time his mother collected him from school for fear I'd be in trouble.

The rugby influence wasn't in school at that stage. My dad encouraged me to play¨ - he was heavily involved with the Dolphin club in Cork. They had no underage section, so I went to Cork Constitutional. They were rival clubs, but Dad didn't mind because I was really enjoying the rugby. When I started playing in Con they would say I was very small and I wouldn't make it, but I always ended up on the first team. Because I started playing when I was six, I was used to being the size I was and handling myself against bigger guys.

When I moved to second level my main consideration was rugby. The toss-up was between Presentation and Christian Brothers. A lot of my friends were going to Pres' so that influenced me, plus I knew it had a big rugby scene. I did an entrance exam, was accepted, and I was delighted to get in.

Going to school in Pres' and playing rugby was great. Declan Kidney taught maths and accounting in the school when I was there. He never actually taught me, but he was always busy organising fixtures - for every weekend of the year from the under-13s right up to under-18s. So I knew him and worked with him right up from when I was an under-13 to now with the Irish squad. I'd say he had a big influence on me in secondary school.

I enjoyed studying business and languages, particularly Irish and German, though I did physics and chemistry for the Leaving, which I didn't enjoy so much. In Pres' some teachers appreciated rugby more than others. Some were strict with work and others let you get away with more if they knew you'd a big match on. That may have influenced why I picked certain subjects. I also seemed to follow people that I'd been in class with the whole way up through primary, Cork Con and Pres' (and I eventually went to UCC with them). I didn't always pick subjects I really liked. I didn't focus on that so much, because rugby was always number one.

I think your appreciation of a subject is influenced by the teacher. I enjoyed Irish because I got on well with my Irish teacher. Brother Cronin was a very good teacher and just a really nice elderly gentleman. I met up with him recently and he was saying he was following everything I've done and was wishing me well - it was lovely to hear that from him.

As soon as I got to college I was in the Munster squad, missing classes and practicals while travelling off to France or wherever to play. I'm happy with the choice I made to leave after two years.

The biggest influence in my school life was rugby. I always looked forward to after-school or the weekend to play. I'm delighted to look back and think I had fun in school. You felt very proud because it is something you don't really expect at that age and it feels like the best thing in the world when your teachers and friends respect you for something you're good at and enjoy.