Thick skin, a trusted gut and rugby in the blood.
It sounds like something straight out of the board game Operation, but really it's what has made World Cup-bound referee Ben Whitehouse who he is today.
The 32-year-old has been selected as one of seven TMOs for this autumn's showpiece in France, with the appointment seeing him follow in the footsteps of his father Nigel, who served as an assistant referee and TMO at the 2003 World Cup.