When living outside your native country, you have to accept the faults of your adopted country. I have little patience for ex-pats who sit around moaning about this and that and how much better things are in their own country.

To me, there’s a simple solution.

The grass may be greener on the other side, but then you realise grass only grows more easily in temperate climates. Living most of the year under blue skies has its advantages.

After many years of travelling I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as the perfect place.

Being an outsider in a foreign land gives you an insight into your country of residence free from national bias.

Spain has an abundance of good points. Fine weather, great as well as inexpensive food and wine, festivals that would cause the instantaneous death of thousands of health and safety officers in many other countries. These are but a few.

At the moment, the uglier side of Spain is in the newspapers. If you think Beale-gate is hard to stomach, have a thought for those living here who open the newspaper every day to read about political corruption.

Not just one corrupt individual. Hundreds of them. Even thousands. From politicians and even members of the Royal family, there are countless examples of bribery, embezzlement and fraud.

There is, however, a saying that a nation deserves its politicians. When you point out to a dentist, for example, that not providing you with a bill is just as illegal as hoarding your wealth in Andorra and not declaring it, you are dismissed as a fool.

The shadow economy may not add up to much individually but multiply it by 45 million and the problem is just as bad as the billions frittered away during the housing boom.

I don’t wish to paint myself as pure as the driven snow. If someone tells me my car is going to cost x euros but if I take off taxes it’ll be x – 250 euros, I know what I’ll choose.

Somehow I think we tend to get similarly sanctimonious with our professional rugby players. We can all have a laugh over the amateur era and the hilarious escapades those players got up to while on tour.

Nowadays, with the stakes seemingly much higher and top rugby players earning significant sums, we tend to be excessive in our demands on player behaviour and work ethic.

Modern rugby players have had to come to terms with the fact that their commitment to their employers and fans extends well beyond the rugby field.

Not everybody, however, is equipped with the maturity or the temperament to be put in the public spotlight or at least to have their ostensibly private life brought into the public sphere. Not everybody has the personality or character, the gift of the gab or public speaking ability to make an impression.

There are some who argue that we ask too much of our rugby players. They are there to play rugby and that is their sole obligation. Impress us on the field and we remain impressed when they’re off the field.

There’s much to like about that simple view of things because often we ask the impossible.

We demand humility and yet we want to hear the truth. We want to be entertained not only on the field but off it, too.

Dan Carter is a humble guy who is committed to the team but I could count on a clenched fist the number of interesting comments he has made in a press conference. Contrast that with a character like Merths or the much beloved and missed Honey Badger, and are we really going to blame Carter for not being as entertaining with the spoken word as he is on the field with a rugby ball?

Indeed, having that perception of a dour persona has its benefits. While people are always on the lookout for ‘wild’ boys such as James O’Connor or Kurtley Beale, the quiet ones can often get away with murder.

It seems there are definite lines that can’t be crossed. Late night burgers may provoke ire in some people but it won’t call out the moral police like a mysoginist text.

Any wrongdoings have to be dealt with just as they are in the ‘real’ world but personally I feel the moral outrage aimed at Beale is not the response you would give if it were someone close to you.

Rugby is a physical game and sometimes that natural aggression spills onto the field in an inappropriate way. We can get upset when somebody transgresses but when that cynical play becomes foul play, there is justifiable outrage. Eye gouging, for example, is an abhorrent act and only in the make believe world of wrestling is it condoned.

Equally, we want our players to enjoy themselves on and off the field but when things get out of hand, there is little forgiveness. When a personal problem or mistake becomes publicly aired, it’s impossible to separate the player and the person.

When it comes to alcohol we tend to have mixed opinions. A player like Sam Warburton is often derided as a guy nobody would like to sit down and have a yarn with because he doesn’t drink. We want a character, a larrikin, somebody we could sink a few beers with and have a laugh. Then we get irate when somebody drinks too much and say they shouldn’t be drinking at all leading up to travel or a Test match.

Zac Guildford, Danny Care, Julian Savea, Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Mike Tindall, Manu Tuilagi and Andrew Hore are examples that come to mind of players publicly shamed for their actions. You might well put them in order of gravity but whatever they did, they not only let themselves down but they brought their respective unions into disrepute.

Is that fair? No, in the sense that none of us is perfect and we all make mistakes. If somebody is fired from your office for wrongdoing, the whole office doesn’t bow its head in collective shame over the actions of their colleague.

On the other hand, it is justified in the sense that, like it or not, there is a link between the private individual and work. Some might say a tenuous one but if I call in sick and post photos of me skiing in the Alps and inexplicably I have put my boss as one of my friends, I can expect consequences for my actions.

If on a weekday I am spotted out at 3:30am eating a kebab as well as the plastic box containing it – well worth looking up that video. I can safely say it’s not me – it’s unlikely there will be any effect. The problem is, when you are a public figure or well-known athlete, that connection between your private world and work is always made.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to know what interpretation to make. Sonny Bill Williams has been called Money Bags Williams. Breaking his contract with the Bulldogs wasn’t handled well. He appears to get special treatment in terms of being selected for touring squads with no rugby form to speak of.

Yet he doesn’t drink and doesn’t make the papers for bad behaviour. He’s an imposing physical specimen but that is testament to his preparation and how he looks after his body. He is humble and never puts the spotlight on his abilities and is all about the team.

You could argue he’s just a gifted sportsman who is making the most of his finite opportunities in sport. Can a distinction be made between him and Gavin Henson or Rupeni Caucaunibuca, who didn’t make the most of their rugby talents? Israel Folau and Brad Thorn came over from league but if they had played a year of league in between their union careers, would they be viewed differently?

Richie McCaw was said to have played a Test with a broken rib. Having already played a Rugby World Cup final with a crook foot, a precedent had already been made. Some might say this demonstrates his loyalty and commitment to the team whereas others might say it sends the wrong message to younger people or indeed other players that putting your body on the line, even when it’s not right, is the right call.

Stephen Ferris or Juan Smith might want to have a word to potential stars about the wisdom of such thinking. We seem to draw a line with concussed players but playing through injury in rugby is viewed as loyal and courageous. A broken arm, a ripped testicle, a broken rib. Harden up and don’t let the team down.

Is this an appropriate message? Would we make the same call with our own children? Get back on the field Jimmy. That’s why God gave you two arms and not just the one.

When a player lets himself down, it reflects badly on his club or union or indeed both. However, when a player does something right, it seems only the individual gets the recognition.

Nick Cummins aka The Honey Badger made the selfless move to give up his World Cup aspirations to move to Japan in order to support his family. He left the Wallabies with nothing but praise and well wishes. Contrast that with Mat Giteau and James O’Connor and their decisions to play club rugby.

How many of us though have been offered a bigger pay packet in another company? Is our decision splashed across the newspapers as an exercise in money-grabbing greed with no sense of loyalty whatsoever?

When a player moves abroad on a club contract, we say he’s selling out. But how much do we know about the motives of a player? We will never know how much pressure was placed on Frans Steyn to make the move. Agents do work on a commission just like head hunters in the business world.

A player like Rene Ranger or Jerome Kaino might also be thinking of his family but because their family members aren’t ill, we don’t put them in the same light as Cummins. Is that fair? Do we forgive them, if they come back or are they forever mercenaries in our minds? If O’Connor comes back and makes the Wallabies team, is he in a way a role model for people in that, like Danny Cipriani, he gives a more human example of a person who has made mistakes but has redeemed himself?

Cummins was a rare commodity in rugby. He enjoyed himself on and off the field with his rugby commitments. To say in a press conference I was sweating more than a gypsy with a mortgage is not the most politically correct thing you’ll ever hear. Imagine if you made that speech at work. Would it go down well?

Contrast him with players such like Cory Jane or Ali Williams who are not afraid to hide their true personas but are classed as clowns or rub people the wrong way. Personally, I’d be more affronted by someone pretending to be one thing and being the polar opposite. However, is that unreasonable? Do we present a different face in the workplace and then act quite differently outside the workplace?

We forgive players like Cummins or at least we don’t judge him because he’s obviously someone who speaks from the heart. As a Wallaby, he didn’t hide his personality or shelter behind the bland media training the players are given. For that reason he was a breath of fresh air simply because he enjoyed himself and wasn’t prepared to give a meaningless soundbite.

There are players who seem like a deer in headlights when being interviewed. Malakai Fekitoa may be able to put in impressive hits but his voice sounds like a frightened Michael Jackson as public speaking is obviously not his thing. Julian Savea was similar as was Jonah Lomu when they started out and you could well argue that their improvement in this area is a great plus for professional players and makes them more rounded individuals.

When Tony Woodcock, however, was handed the microphone by Richie McCaw in his centurion match, he looked as though he had been given a live grenade. The expectation was for some witty recollection or inside gem from the changing room.

It didn’t come. The poor guy looked as though he wanted to pull that silly cap down over his head and hide. Yet how would we feel with a microphone being handed to us in front of thousands of people and many more watching around the world?

Much like the perfect game, we seek perfection in our rugby players. It’s an impossible goal and what we demand from our players is beyond what we ask from ourselves or what people demand from us.

Unfortunately, players are in the public eye and we judge them because of it. They’re paid professionals and represent their club or country.

We praise certain individuals and ignore negative aspects that might get in the way of tarnishing that idyllic image we have of them. We fixate on certain players who bring the game, team and country into disrepute as if to say we as spectators are removed from the game and only those in the public eye can be judged.

There are times when players do something wrong on the field and off the field. They need to be held accountable for their actions. However, I think we can look at our own personal situation before we belt out vitriol on our keyboards towards a player and ask the question what I demand of myself and what I’m demanding of this player.

The grass isn’t always greener on our side.