Of all the players who have experienced at first hand the IRB Sevens World Series, only one has stayed the course over its 10-year lifespan.
Englishman Ben Gollings started his international Sevens career in 1999 and last season passed the phenomenal milestone of 2,000 Series points, ending the year on 2,042.
Five years ago in Los Angeles, Gollings surpassed the great Fijian Waisale Serevi as the sport's leading all time point-scorer and since then he has set about stretching that record. Serevi's tally of 1,310 remains the second best in the game.
A very decent 15-a-side player but a world class Sevens specialist, Gollings masterminded four straight Hong Kong titles for England in tandem with former captain Simon Amor and has also competed at two Commonwealth Games, winning silver in 2006.
"Sevens has played a massive part in my life," he said. "I love representing my country and I love playing Sevens and to be able to tour the world like I've done over those 10 years has been huge. I might never have got to do that if I was doing something different.
"The game's come on leaps and bounds too and keeps throwing up new challenges, which is why I stick around to keep playing."
In his 10 years of international Sevens, Gollings has provided a steady stream of points and tries, but his contribution goes far beyond that. He has also been the mainstay in a backbone of players allowing England's coaches to blood untried sprinters - Ugo Monye, Richard Haughton, Tom Varndell, David Strettle, Tom Biggs and Uche Oduoza to name but a few - in the knowledge that their game plan would still be expertly carried out on the pitch.
In fact, with Gollings' hand on the tiller, successive coaches have used the Sevens game to nurture no less than 18 full England internationals, all within a winning environment.
Gollings' graduates: England Sevens to full national honours (1999 - 2009)
Ugo Monye, 235 points
David Strettle, 165
Ben Foden, 153
Tom Varndell, 150
Mathew Tait, 145
Danny Care, 120
Henry Paul, 112
Pat Sanderson, 110
Peter Richards, 100
Danny Hipkiss, 85
James Simpson-Daniel, 84
Andy Gomarsall, 69
Josh Lewsey, 64
Jamie Noon, 47
Mark Cueto, 45
Luke Narraway, 40
Add to the list the likes of Tom Croft, Tom Rees and James Haskell - other Englishmen to have played Sevens alongside Gollings without making it into their country's top 50 scorers - and you begin to grasp the scale of the rugby nursery to which England Sevens' own number 10 has contributed so vastly.
"We've had our ups and downs every year," Gollings added. "We've been close to winning a Series and then not won it but at the same time we've taken out some big tournaments, which is always a great feeling."
Toughest opponent
Of all the players he has played against, Gollings singles out New Zealand's Fijian-born wizard Amasio Valence as the most skilful, while Joe Rokocoko was 'pretty hard to stop'.
"There have been players all over who have come through this and shown that they've got it at the top level, which is why we like playing the game," he said.
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Ironically, Gollings is approaching the twilight of his own career at a time when Sevens rugby could be about to explode on an unprecedented level.
He sees South Africa's current full-time Sevens set-up and the developments of the last 12 months as compelling proof that now, more than ever, 'Sevens specialists' can exist and enjoy a professional rugby career in their own right.
"We're all waiting on a big decision with the Olympics and if that gets given the go-ahead it is going to change the game even more, and South Africa will be one step ahead.
"This game is going to build and build. Whatever happens, Sevens has a lot to give in the future."