Jamie Roberts: My big career announcement and the truth about my WRU job
Jamie Roberts has never been one to shirk a challenge.
The 38-year-old has always thrived under pressure, with his 94 Wales caps, three Six Nations titles along with the pivotal roles he played on two British & Irish Lions tours all being a testament to his resilience.
Now, three years after his retirement from playing professional rugby and over a decade after finishing his initial medical degree, Roberts will finally begin working as a resident doctor this summer.
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Sitting in his home in Cardiff, Roberts explains his return to medicine and the challenges that await him with as much excitement as he ever did when doing media interviews as a player. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
'I crave pressure, responsibility and accountability,' Roberts tells WalesOnline
'It has taken me a while to work out exactly what I miss from the game, and that's it. I miss the pressure and doing something that brings with it pressure and scrutiny.
'Of course I miss the lads, I miss the changing room and I miss the social side of rugby probably above all else.
'I love problem-solving, I love working with people and I guess when you go through that soul-searching when you retire, you try to narrow down what you really love and what you really want to go after.
'Medicine and being a doctor ticks a lot of boxes. It's problem-solving, it's in science, it's working with people, it brings significant pressure and responsibility. I can't wait to join another great team in the NHS.'
Roberts' path back towards medicine began a few months ago with long hours studying ahead of an exam in November, which he passed with flying colours. As a result, the former centre will begin practising as a junior doctor in Llandough Hospital in Cardiff this summer.
Roberts will have to take two foundation years before settling on what area of medicine to specialise in the long run.
'There's an exam once a year – once every November – if you want to get back into clinical medicine the following August, because the intake runs in the academic year,' he says.
'I sat an exam in Manchester in November. I gave myself three or four weeks' prep and I was in the library in the Heath spending many long evenings.
'They can examine you on anything, so you have to revise everything. That was challenging, having been out of it for over 12 years.
'So if you've graduated and you've not started that foundation year within two years, you have to resit this exam.
'It's a clinical exam – 12 stations with actors and they can ask you anything.
'It was an amazing feeling, passing that exam, because you are on your path then.
'The NHS is probably more flexible now than it has been previously. I get pre-allocated to Cardiff and Vale health board.
'I have young children, so you can apply for something called pre-allocation, which allows you to work in your local health board.
'I'm starting at Llandough, which is my first rotation on geriatrics, and then I've got my other five rotations at the Heath for the next couple of years. I think I've got A&E, emergency medicine, trauma orthopedics, cardiovascular medicine, respiratory medicine and colorectal surgery.
'So you can pro rata your time commitment and salary I guess for 50% all the way to 100%. So I've applied for 70%-80%, which gives me that day off in the week to allow me to stay involved in the game.'
As we chat, Roberts asks whether I have been watching the BBC documentary series Saving Lives in Cardiff. The documentary follows a group of talented doctors and surgeons working at the Heath Hospital, officially known as the University Hospital of Wales (UHW), which highlights the huge pressure on the NHS.
There is the daily dilemma of potentially having to cancel operations, either because of a lack of beds or a more urgent case. But these surgeons work minor miracles on a daily basis to not only save lives under intense pressure but also improve the patients' standard of living.
Roberts is clearly inspired by what he has seen and is ready to add value to the NHS.
'Therein lies that pressure, and I'm a massive fan of people who work in healthcare,' says Roberts.
'I was watching on TV the other night Saving Lives in Cardiff and I had goosebumps watching that and thinking how much of a privilege it is going into that setting to join that team.
'As a student, I've scrubbed up in some operations and been in the operating room during ACL reconstructions and amputations.
'I'm in awe of these people. It's an actual privilege for me to be joining those people and joining a team of healthcare specialists.
'Whenever anyone goes into hospital, it is still humbling to see the effort and work which goes into treating patients.
'I'm under no illusions of how challenging it will be and how much I need to learn. Even just looking at one medical textbook now, I go 'wow!'
'The volume and intensity of work is immense, but that's the challenge.
'When players retire, if you take the whole-life approach, you've got 30 years of life ahead of you. You invest in a career that has longevity and there's a clear path.
'That's one of the great things in medicine. There's a clear pathway of things you want to work in.
'You get fulfillment from seeing people under your care get better. There's a reason people see a GP – they are not well.
'It's a privilege to be able to go into it because you are contributing to people's health at the end of the day. That's the buzz and appeal.
'There's a lot of discourse around the health service and the challenges it is facing, but to me therein lies the challenge and appeal about going into that, rolling my sleeves up and giving it everything I've got.'
Once his foundation years are complete, Roberts will have to make a choice. He has a fair idea of what road to go down, but admits his feelings might change over time.
'If you were to ask me now, it would be to become an orthopedic surgeon, but that's a decade's training, but with my whole-life hat on, that's 10 years out of 30,' he explains.
'Because of my background in sport trauma, orthopedic surgery appeals straight away. I loved learning about injuries when I had them and my fellow players [did]. I took a real interest in it whenever players got injured, and found it fascinating – the process of surgery and the rehabilitation process as well.
'When you go through that as a player, you feel like you learn more. I was really invested in that when I got injured.'
It would be an understatement to say Roberts is a busy man, and it is a wonder he has time to conduct this interview, given his numerous responsibilities.
While rugby and medicine are huge passions of his, Roberts is a family man. The former Wales centre and his wife Nicole have two young children – Elodie and Tomos – and are expecting a third child in the very near future.
Roberts is also a well-respected pundit, regularly appearing on BBC Scrum V, ITV's Six Nations coverage, Premier Sports and TNT Sports.
Despite hanging up his boots a few years ago, Roberts is contributing to Welsh rugby as much as he ever did as a player, as a non-executive director on the Welsh Rugby Union board.
Roberts couldn't have been a member of the WRU board at a more important time. Welsh rugby has gone through a turbulent period over the past couple of years. The senior men's national side have lost a record 17 Test matches in succession, and have taken home the Six Nations wooden spoon for the second year running.
This is a far cry from Roberts' playing career and those of his teammates, with Wales winning six Six Nations titles and four Grand Slams between 2005 and 2021, while they also reached two Rugby World Cup semi-finals.
'Board meetings recently have been a lot more frequent because there's been a lot of work going on around the PRA and with Cardiff, especially,' he said.
'It's usually a couple of commitments or a couple of days a month, if not once a week more recently. There's board meetings and different committee meetings whether that's meeting people in the evenings making sure everything is done properly.
'I guess my contribution is to leverage my experiences and my past life into better decision-making at the WRU. Of course, I've had my playing and life experiences, but besides that there's going to be other people there with far more commercial experience, legal experience or financial experiences. That's the purpose of a multi-functioning board. You have all these experiences from various walks of life. Mine is coming from Welsh rugby, is coming from the heart and what I've experienced in the game in Wales.
'The decision-makers are always open to that insight and I'd like to think I've played an important part in adding that rugby player lens to the decision-making. At the end of the day, we all love Welsh rugby and we want to see it succeed.
'It's about putting the right pieces of the jigsaw in place to allow us to do that.'
As a WRU board member, Roberts' role naturally involves challenging and holding to account those in positions of power within the upper echelons of Welsh rugby.
He owes much to his former coach Warren Gatland, but given Wales' wretched run of form during the latter part of the New Zealander's second stint in charge, some serious questions had to be asked.
Gatland has spoken openly about his disappointment at how some of his former charges openly criticised him through the press while Wales were in the middle of the worst losing run in their history.
But as a board member, Roberts had a duty to hold Gatland to account in meetings behind the scenes, and does not regret doing so.
'It's hard and it has been difficult at times,' admits the 38-year-old. 'There's a reason you are there. You've got to embrace it and you can't shy away from it.
'I never had any problem doing that, and I'd like to think he never had any problem with me doing it.
'This is an elite sport. Anyone who can't accept being challenged shouldn't be working in it, quite frankly.
'It's only that challenge that's going to improve environments and performances. We've all got opinions about the game, but bringing the right experience to the room and bringing that right challenge is absolutely critical for us to move forward.
'It can't become group-think. It has to be experienced people through different lines of work challenging everything and making sure we have the right things in place.
'I've no problem challenging people or receiving it. I lived a life previously where teammates of mine were blunt with each other. We all wanted the same thing at the end of the day and that's to win. Achieving that is what the top level of the game is about. That comes very easily for me.'
Roberts was on the interviewing panel for the new director of rugby and elite performance, with Dave Reddin the successful candidate, and his expertise will no doubt be called upon to appoint the new head coach.
He is supremely confident that Reddin is the right person as director of rugby, and is optimistic the WRU will make the right decision when it comes to deciding Gatland's long-term successor.
'I think we are on the right track, but Dave has a huge challenge ahead of him,' he said.
'It's about optimising everything in the game in Wales. It's about making sure the right people in the right places are doing the right thing to allow our talent to thrive. It is as simple as that.
'The coaching piece is absolutely critical for our medium to long-term success because whoever comes into that role, I think there's a duty to coach our coaches and make sure that our regional coaches are upskilled, while also making sure they feel inspired and have aspirations to reach the top level of the game.
'I've certainly sat in meetings where the head coaching position has been discussed, and that work is ongoing now. I'm a phone call away from being asked for my advice. That's how non-executive work works. You are not necessarily always in the room but if Abi [Tierney, ] wants somebody to lean on with their rugby experience, then I'm there.
'That's going to be a thorough process and the right guy for the job at this current time for this group and what they need to strive to achieve.
'There's going to be a whole host of factors there, from what coaches are available to what coaches are out of contract, what coaches want the job, what qualities each candidate would bring to the role and the make-up of his assistant coaches.
'There's so many moving parts there, but we need the right people in the room making the best decisions possible for our talent to thrive and move Welsh rugby forward.'
For Welsh rugby to flourish once more, its four professional clubs – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – need to be competing at the top end of the United Rugby Championship and European competitions.
Over the past few years it has been very tough going, but this season there have been green shoots of recovery, both with the professional clubs and within the pathway.
Roberts, who played for Cardiff, Racing 92, Harlequins, Bath, Dragons, Stormers and Waratahs during his career, is adamant that Welsh rugby has some world-class talent who will flourish if nurtured correctly.
'If you look at the midfield, there's so many young players who look like they have the ingredients to be world-class players,' said Roberts.
'There's some in the midfield who have had their opportunity with Wales over the last few years, whether that's Mason Grady, Ben Thomas, Joe Roberts, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn and Macs Page.
'These players have all the tools. There's also Louie Hennessey at Bath, Bryn Bradley at Harlequins and Steff Emanuel at Cardiff.
'How do we take these players to the next level? How do you take these young players and turn them into world-class players? That's what we must strive for.
'The obvious metric for success is trophies and competing. Whenever you set yourself a goal, it is about being realistic and what we want in the future. For me, this is about sustainable and continued success. It's not the boom and bust that has been a part of our past.
"It's about regularly competing in play-offs in the league and Europe. We want to be in the top two or three in the Six Nations every year and the knockout stages of the World Cup. Regularly being there has to be a goal for our national and club sides. Every World Cup – that has to be the minimum standard.'
In both the NHS and the WRU, Jamie Roberts is committing himself to service – not for applause, but to help rebuild and inspire two institutions at the heart of Welsh life.
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