AT one stage not that very long ago it was the amateur sport played on Saturday. To prepare for the game we had two ninety-minute training sessions during the week. That was pretty much the extent of rugby back then. My, haven’t things changed so much?

Then after the game and a quick shower it was into the bar to mingle and chat with those we scrapped with earlier. ‘No hard feelings over that particularly high tackle, it wasn’t intentional, but I think you know that.’ On Monday we’d return to the source of our livelihood. A day that began rather sluggishly as it was the alcohol and not the knocks and bruises that hampered an active start to the week. They were great days and I must say I miss the simplicity of it all. I know for sure my mother didn’t appreciate the bag of filthy, stinking gear. But sure, unfortunately nothing in life is forever and the old ways must be surrendered, reluctantly or otherwise.

This novice attitude bowed to the pressures of modernisation and on 26th August 1995, when the International Rugby Board decided to remove all restrictions on payments and benefits to those connected with the game. The impact of this decision was absolutely enormous.

With this change came a vast surge in support. I think it’s inevitable that the next stage in commercialisation will come in the form of an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The four provinces will be floated as companies on the stock market. So while you watch your team play and knowing the players are being paid handsomely, you too could make a financial gain. After victory comes an increase in your share price on the market, not to mention the delight of receiving a dividend payment in the post from time to time.

The modern era calls for an entirely different approach by the players. They are now employees and the valuable assets of the rugby club whom fork out generous salaries. Where once it was a few beers after eighty bruising minutes they now immediately commence rehabilitation. Even the term alone has me envisage walking frames and multitudes of electrodes attached to the skull and searching for neuron activity. Like sophisticated machines they are physically and mentally stuck back together. Scary stuff, but it’s not surprising considering the sheer physical size of the players. Professionalism has converted the game into a high impact sport played by gladiators.

But if like me your old rugby boots are rotting in some landfill, but still find yourself drawn towards the game there is another route to involvement. Wouldn’t it be rewarding to still be associated with these titanic figures without the risk of dismemberment? I’m talking about getting involved as a coach. Remember it's professional so that means the coaches also get paid. It could be your greatest career move yet. Heaven knows how long we’ll be stuck in this depression.

With the introduction of the Heineken Cup in the same year the game went professional came a host of employment opportunities. If you log onto the IRFU website you’ll see a team of seventeen under the heading of coaches. Of course they are not all coaches, but a range of qualified staff deemed necessary to prepare and field an international team. That’s it at the top end.

I don’t think I could continue without mentioning those who sacrifice a sleep in on Saturday mornings for to coach a juvenile hoard of eager kids. Without their commitment there’d be nothing coming through to field the adult teams. Unsung heroes and doing it for the love of it. Personally I wouldn’t have the patience, but that's just me.

‘Right,’ you say to yourself, I’m going to give something back and get involved. Mind you, having never played offers no handicap. The laws of rugby, covered in detail in a 196 page booklet, can be downloaded from the IRB website. There’s no mystery to the game and a far sight easier to understand than Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. And if it’s any consolation, there are many players in the professional era who depict ignorance of many of the 22 Laws and their associated subsections. At times it looks as if some referees are too! Interpretation of said laws varies more than you might think and the source of much frustration. You see it all the time.

To cut your teeth, it’ll be necessary to begin coaching the adult thirds or fourths in the local rugby club. And you’ll be doing this without monetary reward initially. Despite not having much in the line of scientific resources, all that is required is fifteen players and a ball.

Although I get the distinct feeling from those involved in higher echelons they pride themselves in how technical the game has become. Has it really? The likes of Sky Sports would like you to think it has with all their squiggles and lines. One individual told me they had over 100 variations in the lineout. It’s kind of hard to believe. Front, middle or back and you can have a fast, straight up or lobbed ball. That’s only nine options-I couldn’t remember twenty let alone one hundred.

There is a copycat mentality in coaching. If they do it in the southern hemisphere, then we must do it up here. The practice that became fashionable for a while was the last man lifting in the lineout? And then they realised if the player lifted missed the ball there was no one left to clean up. Sensibly you don’t see that any more. And with greater relief the IRB quickly scrapped the ELV regarding collapsing the rolling maul. What were they thinking in the first instance? Best not to answer.

The IRFU have a coaching ladder beginning with Mini right up to Level 3 that is for Head Coaches working with representative teams. As a coach starting out you don’t have to bother with any of that. A basic understanding is all that is required.

At the entry level the players will be trimmed down versions of the professionals. I believe this will stand the coach well as in stead of battering rams he\she will have to assist the players in developing the basic skills. There are players in the professional game who have difficulty executing a straight forward pass. There is absolutely no excuse for this. Maybe if they spent a little less time in the gym for some passing drills we could see more tries scored from the offload in the tackle.

If you can’t pass the ball properly, both left and right, an overlap of four to one is about as much good as wearing ballet shoes while trying to run on a mucky pitch.

But remember, aside from the laws and all that stuff, you’ll need to be a great leader— Ernest Shackleton great. Where you’d trust him with your life and get in a small boat for an 800-mile journey across treacherous seas. I had such a coach once upon a time and a tear comes to my eye even when I think of him now.

Yes, the game is exciting and incredibly athletic, but I’d definitely go for less brawn and more dexterity. You only have to look at Gareth Edwards famous try for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973 to see what I’m talking about. That would definitely be the brand of rugby I’d coach. Hairs standing on the back of my neck kind of stuff as the ball is shifted over and back all the way up the pitch and not a single ruck. Pure magic!