“I still believe I have something to offer. I would love to play at the top level, whether that be in the Premiership or another league. If someone took a chance on me, I would love that, but you can’t expect people to look at the past. I have to put myself in the shoes of a director of rugby looking for a fly-half and I guess it is not the easiest thing to take a chance on someone who has not played regularly for that amount of time.”

The options for Heathcote and others are limited. Most Premiership clubs have concluded their squad recruitment for next season, while a drop into the Championship can often prove to be a one-way ticket. French clubs, as Palma-Newport found, do their business a lot later in the summer, but new regulations have restricted opportunities for foreign players.

Somewhat grimly their best shot lies in another player in their position suffering a long-term injury during preseason, which would allow the club to re-enter the market for a medical joker. This is Heathcote’s strategy. He is keeping himself fit and has booked flights to go travelling around California and Indonesia next month, all the time making sure his mobile phone is fully charged.

If the phone does not ring then Heathcote is ready to deal with what comes next. “With the concussions, I have kind of gone through that process of accepting my career for what it has been and given me,” Heathcote said. “If I am able to carry on then that will just be a bonus and I will make the most of whatever years I have left. I have been through that stage of coming to terms with the career being over. I have made my peace with it.”

Others cannot afford to be so phlegmatic, especially for those who have yet to ascend past the first rungs of the career ladder. This time last year, second-row Max Davies was part of the England Under-20 squad who reached the World Rugby final against New Zealand. Coming back into preseason late after the tournament, Davies found first-team opportunities few and far between at Newcastle and in April he was told that he was being let go.

“Having the season Newcastle had and with other players playing very well in my position has made it really hard for me to get the game time I need at this stage in my career,” Davies said. “Basically, I have been a bag-holder then you leave without much to show for it.

“I know I can do it. I have shown I can do it on the big stage at the World Cup. I earned that but it has been forgotten now. It has been very stressful. At the end of the day, I am out of a job. It is not fine. I need to be earning money. If I can’t get a contract anywhere then I am going to have to look at a different route.”

The RPA estimates that only one in four academy players will go on to sign a full-time deal, emphasising the need for alternative career planning, not that having a Plan B will soften the blow of being released. “Most people’s reaction is one of disbelief,” Hopley said. “It is the worst feeling in any employment environment, particularly in one you are so exposed.”

In the meantime, all the likes of Heathcote and Davies can do is wait and hope for that call to come.