The fragility of professional rugby has perhaps never been as apparent as it is right now.
The notion of a life in sport being a short one has always been there, with one unfortunate injury always looming around the corner, threatening to bring things to a premature end. But, in this post-pandemic world, it's not just knocks and bruises that can leave a career in the balance.
The harsh financial reality of Welsh rugby has seen regional squads streamlined, with several players left to pick up the pieces after being shown the door. Former Dragons stalwart Adam Warren was just one of many in recent weeks wondering what would be coming next.
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“I would have wanted to carry on playing professional rugby, preferably in Wales, but all teams seem sorted,” Warren told WalesOnline this week. “My agent has been looking in England and France but I have a family now, with two young boys, and my wife has a teaching job, so to make a move like that it would have to be properly worthwhile.
“I’ve had a fair few calls from semi-pro clubs and I appreciate every one because it’s always nice to be wanted. I’ll probably sign for one of those clubs, with the main thing being that I want to keep playing.
“If I do go semi-pro I’ll have to get a job outside the game. Before going into rugby I was thinking of becoming a PE teacher. I also enjoy strength and conditioning, so maybe that’s something else to think about.
“We’ll see how it pans out."
Warren likely won't be the only one left seeking employment away from professional rugby. The importance of having a plan post-rugby remains as vital as ever.
For Warren, that would appear to be strength and conditioning. It's a familiar path.
Former Wales flanker Robin Sowden-Taylor is the owner of his own gym, ION Strength and Conditioning, in Cardiff. 11 cap scrum-half Tavis Knoyle, who recently left the Dragons and has just joined Merthyr, runs Unit9, a gym in Neath.
In 2017, he required surgery and was told that he may not recover to a point where he would be able to play again. Facing life after rugby, he set up the gym with his wife Jolene, working 18 hour days to get it up and running.
“I had to make a decision, my back was against the wall," he told WalesOnline in 2018. “Setting up my own gym is something I have always dreamt of, so I went down the road of starting this."
Current Wales international Josh Navidi could well go down a similar path when he retires, having previously run the family gym, Physique Health and Fitness, which is based in Brackla, Bridgend. He's also done bits of personal training.
Former Arms Park team-mate Gareth Anscombe is another interested in the fitness side of things. In 2019, the Ospreys fly-half set up Fitap with fellow Wales international Alex Cuthbert.
The comparison app allows users to look at different fitness facilities and classes in their local area, tailored to their needs. It also allows the user to seek out mental health services.
Dominic Day's cannabis oil company, FourFive CBD, while not strictly down the fitness route, did come from knowing and understanding the rigours that professional rugby inflicts on your body. Set up with former England lock and his then Saracens team-mate, George Kruis, Day previously told WalesOnline that "three or four hundred athletes" - from Olympians to UFC fighters - use their product.
Some players will end up staying a little close to the sport, be that in a coaching role or a little further away from the action as a pundit.
Wales hooker Ken Owens is someone who has already gained some experience on the latter, doing his fair share of television punditry while injured. The same can be said for another who has captained the Scarlets, Steff Hughes.
Although just released from Parc y Scarlets, the former Wales U20s centre has carved a niche offering his insight on Welsh language games on S4C.
As for the coaching pathway, the Welsh Rugby Union's Player to Coach Programme had sought to groom some current stars into future coaches. James Hook was part of that programme, having taken on coaching duties since hanging up his boots.
Fellow internationals Justin Tipuric, Leigh Halfpenny and Bradley Davies were also part of the scheme. Halfpenny in particular has had plenty of practise, helping to coach Wales U20s as he continues his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Some though will want to get away from rugby completely. Ross Moriarty has his own clothing brand, Aaron Shingler has a property development company and Jonathan Davies owns a race horse - with Potters Corner winning the 2019 Welsh Grand National and the 2020 virtual Grand National.
Two-time Lions tourist George North is a director of Baffle Culture, a motorcycle club based in Abergavenny, while Scott Williams set up Scott Williams Motorsport in 2016. His company offers a range of services including repairing, maintaining, preparing and testing classic rally cars ahead of and during events.
Then there's Scott Andrews, the prop who just hung up his boots after 13 seasons with Cardiff. As well as the coaching work he'll do with the club's pathway, he's also got a baby clothing company - Precious Peaches - that he started with his wife in 2019.
It's all online and the impressive website boasts a wide range of boys', girls' and gender-neutral garments.
“All the products are done by my wife," Andrews previously told WalesOnline. "I’m trying to help promote and market it and get it as well known as we can over the next six to 12 months.
“I have had a little bit of stick off the boys, but it’s quite nice to do something completely different. It’s taken me out of my comfort zone a little bit. I enjoy it."
James Davies, another forced to retire this season, created his own business venture a couple of years ago. Called My Cubby Case, the idea was a pet travel case specially designed to transport everything you need to look after your pet when away from home.
Boasting a business degree, it might not be the last venture Davies gets involved with.
Finally, one of the logical steps for a post-rugby career is looking at food and drink - given the target audience you've spent years playing alongside.
Liam Williams briefly set up a lager company called Keeps with former Swansea City goalkeeper David Cornell, although that business is no longer going. He's not the only one to spot the opportunity though, with Cardiff props Dillon Lewis and Brad Thyer having their own beverage business - albeit coffee rather than alcohol.
They set up Fat Dragon Coffee back in 2017 when they realised that their team-mates were taking a growing interest in coffee.
“Brad and me sit next to each other in the changing room and we were coming in with these different ideas every morning for like two months,” Lewis told WalesOnline in a previous interview. “Then it sort of dawned on us how the boys go to Costa every day and spend X amount on coffee and we just put two and two together.
“It was one of those things where it kind of clicked."
Moving onto food, former Ospreys prop Ryan Bevington has been the owner of Porthcawl Butchers since 2015. Olly Kohn, who won one cap for Wales in 2013, runs the popular Jolly Hog company, making sausages and bacon as well as owning a restaurant in Bristol.
Elsewhere in the restaurant business, former Wales prop Paul James owns the Ten 21 Bistro in Neath, while recently retired Lions hooker Richard Hibbard launched the Hideout Cafe in Aberavon shopping centre back in 2019.
