The questions that follow Quinnell

It will take some time to absorb all the pros and cons from Wales's gallant attempt to hold the All Blacks last weekend but, mercifully, there were far more pros than cons. However, two questions that won't go away are whether Scott Quinnell would have made a difference and whether it would have been better for him to have made his departure with a death-or-glory tilt against New Zealand rather than that low-key and unsatisfactory match against Canada the previous week?

I would have loved to see a packed-house finale for him – it would have added another flourish to a great afternoon of rugby. Maybe, one day he'll regret it, but when a man makes up his mind to call it a day it is hard for him to delay it. These decisions don't always creep up on you. You suddenly know that you've had a guts-full. It is not a decision your body makes. Your mind tells you it's time and you may as well get the hell out of it as soon as possible.

It's always an emotional decision and there is no point in dawdling once it has been made. Knowing Scott, he wouldn't want any extra fuss and neither would he want to prevent another player benefiting from the valuable experience such a match brings.

Without doubt, he would have made a difference. His ability to keep the ball and carry it over the advantage line would have been a major contribution. It's what Wales lacked at times. I doubt if his presence would have affected the result but it might have lessened the harshness of that scoreline. To think that Wales had fought back to 17-22 with only a few minutes left and looked capable of getting even closer. I'm not even sure now how the scoreline ended up at 17-43. General consensus rates fatigue as the final factor but a shortage of old heads might have mattered, too. Don't forget that we've not only lost Scott but Robert Howley has also bowed out of the international game this season. No offence to those who took their places but you can't replace long-acquired wisdom in a situation like that, especially in such vital positions.

Is it a sign of the times that two such great players, both still short of the veteran stage, have elected to give up playing for their country? Howley is having an excellent season for Wasps and I'm sure that Quinnell has much yet to offer Llanelli. It wasn't failing form or physical fitness that drove them out. Both cited family considerations as the main cause, and it is the increase in the time that a player has to devote to international preparation these days that is the problem.

The squads of the home countries were together for a month during the autumn series with not much time off in between. The intensity of modern rugby demands the utmost preparation but the hours between training and briefings can be long and boring.

When you have a young family within half an hour's drive, it can be very frustrating to be banged up in a hotel. Some, particularly the older ones, get fed up with the regimentation of it all.

With the World Cup a year away, the preparation is not going to let up and so someone like Scott has to face up to long periods away from his family – time you cannot recapture.

Some players don't react well to being in a confined situation, and dealing with them is part of man-management. It is a shame, because Scott is a big-game player and has the self-discipline to look after himself.

I have known him since he was a kid and I have always been an admirer of his commitment. I remember him making his debut for the Welsh rugby league team against Samoa. He had not switched codes long before and I am not sure that he was match fit, but he wanted the ball all the time and took a tremendous battering. He sat in the dressing room afterwards with ice-packs on both thighs, one elbow and his ribs but he had been voted the man of the match and he was delighted.

In union, if you wanted someone to get over the advantage line 99 per cent of the time he was your man. When he went to league with Wigan he was competing for a place in the best back row in the game – Denis Betts, Phil Clarke and Andy Farrell – and still made a massive impact coming off the bench. Scott certainly paid his way as he has done throughout every stage of his career and will continue to do.