WHEN YOU TAKE all the games out of it, the life of a professional rugby player is a strange existence. They pursue their dream job with passion and determination, like you or I would, but once they get it they know they will only have – at best – about 15 years in the profession.
Then they stumble into the ‘real world’, the world that all the people who filled their grounds have been partaking in during their sporting soujourn.
The lucky ones have a college degree that they can build from, but they also have to replace the adrenaline rush they got from playing, if that is even possible.
Former Munster and Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan told TheScore.ie that he gradually realised how much he missed rugby after he stepped away in 2011.
“After a few months you begin to miss it,” Quinlan said.
“At first, you are enjoying your weekends off and not having the pressure to perform on you. But then when Munster would have played I would have really missed the dressing room.
“You think, ‘what’s the next challenge? Will I go into a 9-5 job?’”
That adjustment to ‘normal life’ can be tough for players who were used to running out in front of a heaving full house at the Aviva or in Cardiff. It is hard for someone outside that environment to understand the transition – the most acclaim the majority of us get is a round of drinks on our birthday.
But Quinlan stressed how players don’t switch off from the game when they leave training or a match, that rugby is ingrained into their brains.
“It is hard to let go of rugby,” Quinlan said.
“With all due respect, we are living in a different world when we are playing. We are on stage week after week and it is a very high octane environment. It does consume your life and if you want to be a great player it has to.”
Another thing that can leave players feeling aggrieved in retirement is a sense of a career unfulfilled. Quinlan suffered many injuries during his career – notably a dislocated shoulder at the World Cup in ’03 and a knee problem that almost cost him a Heineken Cup medal in ’06.
Despite these problems, the rampaging flanker played ’til he was 37 and had the two of his best seasons (2007/08 and 2008/09) in his mid-30′s.
Quinlan thinks he’s fortunate that he doesn’t look back on how his career ended with a sense of bitterness that could spill over into post-retirement life.
“I was lucky in some ways that I got to go out on my own terms,” Quinlan said.
I played until I was 37, I went as far as I could. But a lot of people don’t get to got out like that. There is a level below that where you are struggling to get into the team and you are worried about your next contract.
There are some positives for players leaving the game now though. IRUPA is helping retiring players map out a future for themselves post-rugby and even Quinlan has gone back to school.
“Players are much more conscious of what comes after nowadays,” Quinlan said.
“More players are going back to college – I’m doing a fitness and conditioning course that I’m taking a break from at the moment. IRUPA have been great at helping players transition once they are finished with rugby.”
Brilliant stuff. Best of luck to the guy. Wouldn’t it be gas if he won the World Cup with South Africa to stick two fingers up to all the guys who were giving him a hard time last season.
@Jim Demps: Jones deserved all the criticism he got. The Munster attack was stagnant and uninspired under his tutelage. Nice guy though and I hope he finds some form of redemption in South Africa.
@Jim Demps: could very easily win it too. Strong balanced team.
@Jim Demps: munster’s attack has been awful the last few years.
@Jim Demps: Yeah, it would also be gas given that he was terrible at Munster. Crazy appointment if true.
@Jim Demps: Jim you know bloody well that munster needed a new attack coach and by all accounts you’ve swapped a fiat for a bmw
@Brian Brian: Deserved ALL the criticism he got? Some of it was way over the top. Unless you were a regular attendee at Munster training sessions, I don’t see how you can make an informed judgement of his abilities. If South Africa end up with the same problems Munster had, you could have a point, but it’s nearly impossible to judge where the fault lies, given JVG also had some responsibility for the attack and this is his first head coach gig.
Hopefully they get him in nefore the world cup to boost irelands chances of winning the Quarter final, all going well!
@Cormac O’Halloran: classic
Good luck to him , he gave everything he had to munster on and off the field. He deserves to be a success
Will be amazing experience for Felix if it comes off, clearly Rassie was impressed with him during their time together.
@Rochelle: it would be some turnaround for Felix if true. As you say Rassie must have highly rated him.
Best of luck to him, very poorly treated by Munster and their fans.
@Tom McGirr:
What did the fans ever do to him??
@Tom McGirr: The fans???
@Tom McGirr: Well from what I’ve seen on here it’s ” mainly ” the Leinster Brigade who were saying Jones was poor.
@Tom McGirr: obviously you know nothing about munster rugby with a stupid statement like that.
@Decko49:
You are some beauty , so it must be Leinster’s fans fault :: He was sacked by Munster and encouraged by the Munster fans on here , who did a “Kealety” on him. God they never admit when they do, one of their own people !!!!
@Martin Quinn:
Figure out what World Cup was held in 2017 yet Martin??
Great news for everyone except South Africa tbh.
@KH: Although I was hugely frustrated by Munster’s attack, there really must be more to the picture here. Erasmus clearly rates him hugely, as did all the players and Van Graan.
I’d wonder how much was his responsibility at Munster
@JF Murphy: well then the answer has to be that the Munster backs aren’t good enough. Given they’ve been useless under 3 coaching regimes it really looks that way.
@KH:
Munster (82) finished 3rd behind Glasgow (83) and Leinster (95) in trys scored last season which is on a par with the top teams in the Top 14 and Premiership in trys / match.
Munster’s attack was excellent last season except against Saracens and Leinster…hence the change.
You can’t knock Munster for aspiring to be the best.
@Stanley Marsh: would like to have more details about those tries. For example, what percentage of Munster’s 82 tries were scored by forwards from picking and going, and what percentage were scored by backs through true attacking play? In Europe, they weren’t even in the top five for numbers of tries scored. Or defenders beaten, clean breaks, meters made, etc. I feel like these are all useful indicators of the potency of attacking play. I don’t know what’s at the root of their inability to threaten defences, but I think we have plenty of decent backs. Ultimately the buck stops with the coaches. That’s the responsibility they take on.
@B Collins:
Afraid I don’t have the time or energy to give you answers to those questions but I’m sure there are sites out there that could.
Regardless the general view (including mine) last season was that Munster’s attack was very good against the vast majority of opposition except for when they played the very top teams.
The OPs view that “the Munster backs aren’t good enough” seems odd given that backline includes players like Earls, Conway, Farrell, Carbury and Murray.
@B Collins:
Ultimately the buck stops with the coaches. No it doesn’t :: on the game time it is all down to the players picked , just like last weekend it was down to the players :: before and after the games the coaches come into it but game time is the players :::
Rumours of both Sexton and Carbery our for World Cup. Press conference soon from Joe for those wondering, which deviates from his normal PC schedule.
@WillKeepTheW: PC schedule?
@JC: press conference I would guess
@Norris Kevin: yep
@WillKeepTheW: What time is press conference?
I heard that too which is worrying. Also Earl’s and Murray could be out. Hopefully it’s just rumors.
@WillKeepTheW: you are a plonker
https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup-2019/joe-schmidt-upbeat-on-cian-healy-injury-and-says-there-is-no-internal-noise-regarding-best-captaincy-38440987.html
@WillKeepTheW: so I guess you got that one wrong.
@WillKeepTheW: there’s photos of him training in carton house today?
An awful lot of knowledgeable people have said that rate him highly based on day-to-day experience with him. Meanwhile, a lot of keyboard warriors criticise him based purely on what they see from the outside. By all accounts, van Graan was heavily involved in the Munster attack strategy. Could be that Jones is a great analyst or a quality skills coach. When someone of Rassie’s calibre is bringing him in, there’s obviously something he has. On another note, along with Nienaber and Coetzee, South Africa should have a massive bank of information on Ireland.
@ScewMadd: well what were you expecting? How else should fans react when their team can’t compete with trophy sides in attack? Of course they’ll ask questions of the coaching ticket. It’s not a stretch. And I say that as a Munster fan who knows nothing about the day-to-day or any coaches ability. I’m just saying that coaches are responsible for results.
I don’t get all the Jones bashing. Nobody knows what his level of control was at Munster or what the structure was, so blaming him for Munster’s shortcomings is odd. Also, being involved with an average team reaching European semis every year is impressive. It wasn’t long ago he was being touted as the next big thing with Joe taking him under his wing during summer internationals and the media hyping him. Rare too that a man of his age would be given the job he got without being high potential. Power to him of this move comes off and fingers crossed he develops and adds to Irish rugby in the future
And if South Africa do well, then maybe we should look at van grann
@Ted O’Dalaigh: also fair.