WHEN YOU TAKE all the games out of it, the life of a professional rugby player is a strange existence. They pursue their dream job with passion and determination, like you or I would, but once they get it they know they will only have – at best – about 15 years in the profession.

Then they stumble into the ‘real world’, the world that all the people who filled their grounds have been partaking in during their sporting soujourn.

The lucky ones have a college degree that they can build from, but they also have to replace the adrenaline rush they got from playing, if that is even possible.

Former Munster and Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan told TheScore.ie that he gradually realised how much he missed rugby after he stepped away in 2011.

“After a few months you begin to miss it,” Quinlan said.

“At first, you are enjoying your weekends off and not having the pressure to perform on you. But then when Munster would have played I would have really missed the dressing room.

“You think, ‘what’s the next challenge? Will I go into a 9-5 job?’”

That adjustment to ‘normal life’ can be tough for players who were used to running out in front of a heaving full house at the Aviva or in Cardiff. It is hard for someone outside that environment to understand the transition – the most acclaim the majority of us get is a round of drinks on our birthday.

Quinlan is an ambassador for Topaz's efficient fuel campaign.

But Quinlan stressed how players don’t switch off from the game when they leave training or a match, that rugby is ingrained into their brains.

“It is hard to let go of rugby,” Quinlan said.

“With all due respect, we are living in a different world when we are playing. We are on stage week after week and it is a very high octane environment. It does consume your life and if you want to be a great player it has to.”

Another thing that can leave players feeling aggrieved in retirement is a sense of a career unfulfilled. Quinlan suffered many injuries during his career – notably a dislocated shoulder at the World Cup in ’03 and a knee problem that almost cost him a Heineken Cup medal in ’06.

Despite these problems, the rampaging flanker played ’til he was 37 and had the two of his best seasons (2007/08 and 2008/09) in his mid-30′s.

Quinlan thinks he’s fortunate that he doesn’t look back on how his career ended with a sense of bitterness that could spill over into post-retirement life.

“I was lucky in some ways that I got to go out on my own terms,” Quinlan said.

I played until I was 37, I went as far as I could. But a lot of people don’t get to got out like that. There is a level below that where you are struggling to get into the team and you are worried about your next contract.

There are some positives for players leaving the game now though. IRUPA is helping retiring players map out a future for themselves post-rugby and even Quinlan has gone back to school.

“Players are much more conscious of what comes after nowadays,” Quinlan said.

“More players are going back to college – I’m doing a fitness and conditioning course that I’m taking a break from at the moment. IRUPA have been great at helping players transition once they are finished with rugby.”