THERE HASN’T BEEN a chance for dust to gather on Rhys Ruddock’s boots.

He will lace up in a playing capacity next weekend for his second run-out since retiring from a brilliant career that included 27 caps for Ireland and 229 appearances for Leinster.

The 34-year-old played in the World Rugby Classic in Bermuda in November and jokes that he is just about recovered from the injuries he picked up there in time to star for the Ireland Legends against England on Friday 31 January at Energia Park in Dublin [KO 7pm].

Such great causes – proceeds go to the Rugby Players Ireland Foundation and IRFU Charitable Trust, as well as rugby charities in the UK – meant it was a no-brainer to get involved, while Ruddock is looking forward to catching up with lots of familiar faces he doesn’t see enough of these days.

But it’s not like Ruddock is starved of a rugby fix these days. He’s a full-time coach with All-Ireland League club Lansdowne and Leinster school Newbridge College, leading both sides’ defence.

He didn’t pack his boots away upon retirement at the end of last season. Having achieved so much as a player, Ruddock hopes to take his coaching career to the highest level.

Coaching wasn’t always been part of Ruddock’s plan but he dipped his toe during the latter years of his playing career, working with the Lansdowne U20s and having a summer with the Leinster U18 Schools. So when he realised his time as a player was coming to an end, Ruddock had a good sense of what was next. Remaining in team environments, even if he is on the “fringes of the craic” as a coach, has been positive.

Throw in the fact that he and his partner, Caoimhe, welcomed their daughter, Isla, into the world just after he retired and Ruddock hasn’t found the dreaded transition into life after playing professional rugby too tough.

Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

“I’ve found it OK to this point,” says Ruddock.

“Isla’s arrival meant I was straight into focusing on something else and not really thinking about anything else really, just enjoying that.

“Then I’m fortunate that I had been doing a bit of coaching, I knew I enjoyed that, and I was excited to do that a bit more after retiring. So it wasn’t too unknown, what I was going into.”

Balancing playing and coaching had been challenging so Ruddock is enjoying putting his full energy into all of the tactical, technical, interpersonal, and mental aspects of being a coach.

Despite his father, Mike, having been a Grand Slam-winning coach with Wales, as well as leading Swansea, Leinster, Ebbw Vale, Dragons, the Ireland U20s, and Lansdowne in the AIL, Ruddock didn’t always see coaching as his long-term route.

In fact, he felt it wasn’t appealing at all.

“When it’s your dad doing it, you see the good – there were some amazing things – but also the tough things and at times, I thought I wouldn’t want to be a coach,” says Ruddock.

“Growing up, we moved around a lot, things like that. You just wonder if it’s what you want to do.

“There’s the stress. I remember growing up and the slagging we would get in school from other kids. When he got the Welsh job, I remember someone saying, ‘We’re not going to do well now your dad is coach,’ that kind of slagging.

“Then it’s being judged, people having opinions, but you realise that as long as you’re doing something you enjoy and are passionate about, that’s more important. But growing up, I wasn’t sure if I wanted that world.”

In the early stages of his playing career, Ruddock mainly just worried about his own job, his own roles for Leinster and Ireland. He didn’t spend much time thinking about the game like a coach.

That only came later with experience, leadership roles, and the influence of certain coaches.

“Stu Lancaster would have shared a lot of the rationale and reason why we did things and it was an insight into things,” says Ruddock.

Ruddock after his last appearance for Leinster. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

“Robin McBryde as well, he demanded of the players to have a part to play in the planning and analysis. It forced you to understand things a bit more and that was really clever from him because players took more ownership.”

Mike encouraged him to give coaching a crack, telling Rhys that even if it didn’t become a second career in rugby, it would help him grow as a person outside of the sport in terms of dealing with people and his leadership skills.

Ruddock first worked with current Lansdowne boss Declan Fassbender with the club’s U20 side and joined his senior coaching ticket ahead of this season, while also linking up with Johne Murphy’s Newbridge, who open their Leinster Schools Senior Cup campaign against against Gonzaga next week.

Having his final season with Leinster under Jacques Nienaber was “a really amazing experience” given his current focus on defence. Ruddock was always a hard-tackling, hard-working, smart defender anyway, so it’s a natural fit.

Whatever about recent coaching influences, Ruddock appreciates his father’s input more than ever before. They speak about coaching at least once a week now.

Rhys’ brother, Ciaran, is an athletic performance coach with Ireland, so Mike’s love for coaching clearly rubbed off on his sons.

“He’s always been sharing his opinions on most things with me!” says Rhys.

“I suppose they weren’t as welcome before but now they’re more welcome. Sometimes as a son, you listen to your dad and think you know better and you might not agree with things at the time just because it’s your dad.

“But now with technical stuff or even just understanding of rugby and off-field stuff, his understanding of the game and how it works, I look back and realise that what he said would happen often happened.”