The road to Rugby World Cup 2023 is longer than you might think. For some, it stretches back to the moment they first picked up a ball. For others, it begins before they were even born.

Is it in your blood to start down that road? In the town you grew up in? Who you were raised by, or who you were raised with? Is your position on the pitch defined by your position in life?

To fully understand someone’s story, you must look at it from different angles, from fresh perspectives, in a different light. We believe that changing the way you see something can change the way you see the world. It’s why we’re taking a different, inside view of Rugby World Cup 2023 – by empowering players to tell their own story.

In doing so, we see a more surprising, more tender picture: one of love, of pride, and of family.

Lots of people struggle to see themselves in their parents. Some grow up to be the opposites of their mothers or fathers – in appearance, in behaviour, in attitude and or lifestyle – either by design or by coincidence. But others seem predestined to walk the same path.

As young boys, Portugal’s Jerónimo Portela and João Granate idolised their fathers and would eventually follow in their footsteps. Both men played vital roles in Portugal’s only previous appearance at a Rugby World Cup, an experience that played a monumental role in shaping their sons’ characters and career choices.

“My dad was the team doctor,” João says, proudly remembering the 2007 tournament. “He was always with the team, so I was the No.1 supporter.”

The closeness to that team – combined with his father’s unwavering work ethic and Portugal’s match against one of the sport’s very best – set João on course to representing his country too.

“I got to see Portugal play against New Zealand live,” he says. “It was one of the most incredible moments of my life – seeing the All Blacks, the best team ever, play against players that I knew because of my father.

“The atmosphere was so amazing. It was one of my dreams come true.”

We believe that everyone should be empowered to tell their own story. That’s why we’ve given players from the Portugal rugby team, like João and Jerónimo, cameras to document their lives in sport, and life all around it.

Jerónimo’s father Miguel, who played more than 50 times for Portugal, was part of the 2007 squad. And although Jerónimo was only six, the raw passion of the fans and the team stayed with him.

“I always felt nervous watching my dad,” he says, smiling. “He really liked contact and tackles and carrying the ball, so every time he played, I was nervous.”

“I remember the first game against Scotland, when they were singing the anthem. It was a very big emotion, a very pretty moment, and it inspired me. It was one of the reasons I started to play rugby.”

It would be an oversimplification to suggest that rugby players are merely a product of rugby-playing fathers. They are built by their environments, their siblings, their experiences, their memories, and, of course, their mothers.

As John Steinbeck said, “perhaps it takes courage to raise children.” That’s certainly true when your child is dedicated to a physical contact sport like rugby.

“For my mother, I think it was worse,” Jerónimo says, “but she was the best supporter”.

And although watching their sons may have been trying, the players’ mothers influenced a huge part of their personalities and ambitions.

Mike Tadjer, Portugal’s hooker, talks about his mother with love and adoration. She is Syrian and was born in Madagascar, before moving to France at a young age. Mike talks about her relentless drive and work ethic, something he’s proud to have inherited.

“I saw my mum every day wake up and start at five in the morning to go to work and she never gave up,” he says. “She had like three jobs per day to earn money to make the food and everything.

“I saw my mum and dad fighting to work. And to make me and my brother and sister have a good life. I hope they’re proud of me.”

“That’s why I do the career I do – because I never give up. Even if I’m not the fastest or the quickest, I work. It’s the thing from my mum.”

João also inherited traits from his mother that make him a better player and person.

“From my mother I have the ability to take care of my team-mates and partners,” he says. “To treat the team like family. I also have a good stubbornness, to never quit.”

Meanwhile, Jerónimo credits his own mother, not simply for being a “No. 1 fan” of him and his father, but because of the qualities she helped him develop.

“From my mother I think I got more of the intelligence of her – I hope! – and all the things to be disciplined.”