5 rugby players who had normal jobs before becoming rugby stars

Sometimes we should take time to appreciate those rugby players who plied their trade elsewhere before hitting the jackpot in the game we all love.

In an era where you only make it if you dedicate your life to it, it’s rare to find players who just months prior to their professional career were grinding the 9-5.

With that in mind, here are five players, of varying abilities, who made it professionally.

This is the picture that illustrates the heights Williams has scaled to reach international rugby, starting off as a scaffolder. It wasn’t work for the faint-hearted, with Williams rigging scaffolding “over the top of a blast furnace, 300 feet from the ground” back in Wales.

Before securing a professional contract, the future England superstar served an apprenticeship under his Granddad as a painter and decorator. The 24-year-old, who likes keeping busy, hasn't ruled out a return to the trade when his rugby days aree done.

Mustachioed man mountain prop Karl Tu'inukuafe has gone from 27-stone nightclub bouncer to Test tyro. He only made his Super Rugby debut lain 2018 but has already racked up 13 caps for the All Blacks.

When the Uruguay international isn’t in the gym or on the rugby field, he’s driving an Uber in Uruguay’s capital city Montevideo to pay the bills.

A lance corporal and British Army soldier, Rokoduguni made his professional debut at the stunning age of 25. Known as Roko, the Fijian-born English international plays for Bath Rugby Club, where he is known for his speed and ability to score awe-inspiring tries.

DID YOU KNOW: He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 as part of Operation Herrick