Writing in the Irish Times, London Irish captain Bob Casey warns against the dangers of players failing to prepare for life after rugby by earning some ‘educational qualifications’.
"I must be getting old, not quite a dinosaur but it can occasionally feel like I’m close to extinction with the aches and pains after matches. Another way in which I can appreciate that some of my team-mates are from a different generation is the preoccupation they have with rugby to the exclusion of virtually everything else. It concerns me.
"I am a product of a time where the financial reward for being a professional rugby player allows a certain privileged lifestyle but there is no way that a player can salt away enough money to retire by the time he finishes playing the sport. I’m talking about someone who plays for eight or 10 years so you can imagine how precarious financially it might be for a player whose career lasts two or five years for example.
"It is so important that young players provide for a life after rugby and by that I mean earn some educational qualifications. I was encouraged to study while playing rugby as were many players of my generation. It was almost a throwback to the amateur days when international players worked nine-to-five and fitted in their rugby commitments around the day job."
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