In the latest Scrum V Classic, Wales’ win against Scotland during their 1988 Triple Crown campaign will be shown on BBC One Wales on Saturday, 25 April from 13:15 BST. We caught up with one of Wales’ shining lights that season, Mark Ring to talk about his new role in life
To hear former Wales centre and fly-half Mark Ring talk, you’d imagine he was pondering how to win a game or coach a new team to or rising talent to success.
“It’s just getting my head around it, using my brain to see how things can come together naturally to strike the balance and get to know somebody new, which is something I’ve always enjoyed doing anyway,” he tells BBC Sport Wales.
But this is not 32-time capped Ring talking about the mercurial manner in which he once wowed fans of Cardiff, Pontypool and Wales.
This is a different version of Wales 1988 Triple Crown star Ring – and one he admits being “strange” to have emerged at the age of 57.
He has turned to care work, though he is keen to emphasise personal care is not part of his remit.
“It’s a strange one, but I absolutely love it,” Ring tells BBC Sport Wales.
“A chap by the name of Chris James, who used to play in the back row for Swansea – he’s a good friend of mine – we met when his lad and my lad came through the Cardiff schoolboys system together and they’re both in the under-15 squad as we speak.
“He offered me an opportunity to get involved and I haven’t looked back since.
“It’s absolutely fantastic. I’m driving and meeting patients, if you like, with dementia or autism and providing companionship and giving respite to the wives for three or four hours at a time.
“[I’m] befriending them and trying to get to know them as best as possible and breed confidence into each individual and see what they’re most comfortable doing really.
“If that means I’ve got to sit there watching rugby videos for three hours then I’ll do it – that’s the perfect scenario for me.”
