Rhys Gill still vividly recalls the moment when he thought his career as a professional rugby player was over at the age of 22. It was Cardiff Blues boss Dai Young who broke the bad news, telling him he was being released by the region.
“I remember Dai sitting me down and saying ‘There is nothing here for you’. I thought that was it. At the time, I was going to go and play for Neath semi-pro.”
As it turned out, the prop from the Rhondda was to have 13 more years as a pro, winning seven Wales caps and numerous trophies with Saracens - after a crucial helping hand from Michael Owen - before returning to Cardiff.
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Yet that fateful meeting with Dai Young sowed the seed that he needed to have something outside of rugby to fall back on, especially as he had just become a dad at the time. So, as he now hangs up his boots at 35, he does so with two thriving businesses - a flooring shop and a van hire company.
The way his career has ended emphasises the point even further. He has decided to call it a day after struggling for a number of months with concussion, an episode which he admits has been pretty scary. Happily, he is now over the worst of it, but it’s a sobering tale which reinforces the need for players to make plans for life after rugby, as you can be just one injury away from it all coming to an end.
Gill’s problems began back in October of last year.
“I got knocked out playing against the Sharks at the Arms Park,” he reveals.
“It was on a kick-off. I got an elbow to the head. I got up to carry on and I fell over. I started running and all of a sudden I found myself on my face.
“The symptoms after that were quite bad initially. I have been struggling with headaches and stuff. I had vision problems at the start. It was quite scary. The worst part was the headaches. I had constant headaches initially and then it started progressing and I would have one between 5pm and 8pm every night.
“My patience was loads less than usual, my tolerance levels were a lot less. I was snapping over silly things. My wife says I have been quite a tough person to live with over the past six months, with my mood swings. She said it’s been like living with a different person.
“It’s difficult. It’s a tough one. You don’t realise you are doing it. You are not trying to do it. There are so many things with concussion you don’t realise. The more you train, the worse it makes it again with the headaches.
“Obviously I’ve had a few little ones during my career, but this has been the worst by far. It’s the only one I’ve had with long term symptoms with it. It was one unlucky shot I guess.
“On a normal day to day now, I am ok, I am fine. I don’t get much and I can do most things. The only thing I am struggling with now is running. I know if I train too hard, with too much intensity, I am going to have problems. I am 35 now, so I decided to say ‘Yeah, that’s enough’. I can’t complain. I have played quite a bit of rugby. I’ve had a good innings.”
That innings began as the former Porth pupil came through the Cardiff Blues Academy, representing Wales at U16s and U18s level. He started out with the Cardiff RFC Premiership side, going on to make his debut for the Blues as a replacement against Munster in May 2006, aged just 19. But regional opportunities were to be very limited and, in the spring of 2009, he was given the bad news that he was being let go.
It was then that fate took a hand. Gill’s best friend and current business partner is Ross Johnston, the ex-Cardiff Blues and Bristol hooker. Johnston’s brother-in-law is former Wales captain Michael Owen.
“Michael was at Saracens at the time and said they were looking for a prop. Ross mentioned my name and Michael put in a word for me up there. They watched me play a couple of games towards the end of the season and it went from there,” explains Gill.
“It’s funny how these things go. Otherwise I would have been playing semi-pro for the rest of my career.”
Signing for Saracens in 2009, the hard-grafting loosehead went on to play 135 games for the club over the next seven years, sharing in three Premiership titles and a Champions Cup triumph.
“The big one was winning the Premiership for the first time in 2011, beating Leicester in the final at Twickenham. Sarries were a mid-table side with a relatively young squad that nobody really expected anything from.
“It was a very close-knit group. The thing with Saracens is nobody is from there. So if you want to make friends, you’ve got to mix in with the boys who are there. You can’t go and see your friends up the road or your local mates because there isn’t anyone.”
The strong scrummaging Gill’s club form saw him called up by Wales, with his debut coming as a replacement against Ireland at Croke Park in March 2010. Two years later, he was back in Dublin for his first Test start. It was to prove a day to remember as he played his part in a thrilling 23-21 victory over the Irish that served as the launch-pad for the 2012 Grand Slam.
“I played the full 80 minutes. I was absolutely exhausted! There was only one prop on the bench back then, remember. To be part of that team and to finish with a Grand Slam medal was brilliant. That was the high point.”
Further starts followed against the Barbarians and Japan over the next year or so, with his seventh and final cap coming in November 2016.
“International rugby is a pretty cut-throat environment. It’s a big privilege to be involved in it and it’s an amazing opportunity. I enjoyed it. But at the same time there are pressures and stuff.
“Everyone would like a few more caps, wouldn’t they? But Gethin (Jenkins) was there and he pretty much blocked my door quite a bit. He was the main man then. To be behind him is not a bad place to be really.
“I suggested to him he should retire plenty of times! But he just went on forever. He lives quite close to me now, so I see him quite a bit. Him and Mako Vunipola would be the two greatest looseheads from my playing days.”
Overall, Gill looks back on his career very fondly.
“It’s been amazing. I’ve been lucky enough to play for my home region and spend seven years at probably the best club in Europe in Saracens. Then to come back and finish my career in Cardiff is a bit of a fairytale really.
“I have made loads of good friends and have some great memories. I have friends all over the world. You can’t really get that outside rugby, I went to some amazing places with Saracens and toured Australia with Wales in 2012. So good times, good memories. I have been very privileged to have the career I have.”
Now his playing days are over, he can focus fully on the businesses he runs alongside his best mate Ross Johnston.
“We have got the flooring business, Stores 4 Floors, which has been going six or seven years. We’ve got a shop in Pontyclun with four members of staff working there. That pretty much runs itself.
“Then, about 18 months ago, we started up a van hire company called Front Row van hire. We were looking for something in the area which had a niche which was required. There was nothing available in terms of van hire, so we went for it.
“It’s going really well. We started with five vans last year and we are up to 40 now. I am enjoying it. It’s good. I am probably more the admin one whereas Ross is a lot more front of house. I am the Rodney to his Del!”
It’s quite unusual for a rugby player to move into the business world as early as Gill did. He puts that down to his life experiences.
“My big thing is I remember Dai sitting me down when I was 22 and saying there was nothing for me at the Blues. I had a six-month old baby at the time. So when I went away to Sarries, I always thought I needed something, because I didn’t want to be in that situation where I haven’t got a job again. It was a sobering lesson at an early age. That conversation with Dai sowed the seed that I needed to have something outside of rugby.
“A lot of players don’t think about their futures until they are in their 30s. I spend so much time telling the boys to do something. They spend most of their time playing cards or drinking coffee.
“It’s so important to have something to fall back on. You are not footballers, you are not rock stars. It’s not as if we are never going to have to work again after we finish. You earn decent money while you are playing, but then that’s it really. It goes very quickly.”
Now a father of three and living in Groesfaen, the always amenable Gill ends our conversation in reflective mood.
“The way it’s ended for me emphasises that you do do need something outside of rugby. It could have happened any time over the last 15 years. It can be a short career. You are only one injury away and injuries are more and more prevalent in rugby, it’s getting brutal. You see the situation with boys being released as well,” he said.
“It’s so important to have something outside of the game to fall back on. Players don’t appreciate it enough yet, but it’s a huge issue. You can’t emphasise it enough. I’m just grateful that I’ve had 17 years as a player and now have something else to turn to.”
