The other job of the humble Wales international who coaches his mates in division four

Aaron Wainwright is the Lloyd Lewis Wales Rugby Writers' men's player of the 2023/24 season

When standing behind the posts watching Aaron Wainwright coach his local rugby club Whiteheads RFC, he is quite obviously in his element.

Here is an international player of the highest order who has arguably been Wales' most influential player over the past 12 months and is being tipped by those who know their stuff for a place on next summer's British & Irish Lions tour of Australia. His outstanding performances have not gone unnoticed, with the 27-year-old following in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Gareth Edwards and Rob Howley in winning the Lloyd Lewis award as the Wales Rugby Writers men's player of the 2023/24 season.

It would be easy for a player of his standing to posses a superiority complex, but not Wainwright who is as happy coaching Whiteheads as he is running out in front of 75,000 people at the Principality Stadium. Wainwright is a serious player who has never forgotten his roots and has a passion for giving back to others.

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"After the games I play, I come back here and they're happy enough to get stuck into me as much as I am to get stuck into them at training and on Saturday," says Wainwright. "So it's a good balance. It keeps you grounded. There is nothing better than walking through those doors and straight away, them saying what on earth were you doing today? It brings you straight back down, but it's great.

"Just seeing some of the younger guys, how they progress and if I can help contribute to that and give them bits of detail and different tips I've picked up over the years. Sometimes I get lost and try and go too technical with them and it definitely doesn't work.

"So I have to try and rein it in a little bit but we've had good numbers so far this year, a lot more than we would have had in the previous years, so it's been good. Obviously the more numbers makes coaches lives a lot easier.

Whiteheads, who are based in Newport, currently reside in division four east, which is a far cry from running out at Rodney Parade or the Principality Stadium. Wainwright played his youth rugby for the club while he also represented the seniors in a few occasions, in between his time in the Cardiff City football academy.

When he retires from professional rugby Wainwright would love nothing more than to take the field for Whitheads once again. "I've always said after I finish playing I want to come back and play here so that's a goal of mine," he says.

"Gavin Henson played for Pencoed. Hopefully, I can do something like that, come back and play for a couple of games, which will be quite interesting. Get a lot of the boys from school back together, which will be good.

"Division Four East is mostly wet and physical. Last weekend it was 10-10 at half time and we ended up losing 48-22. So the other team had a lot of driving mauls."

Wainwright admits his journey to the top of the international game is still a bit surreal but his time coaching Whitheads keeps him grounded. "I think it is and this adds to that in a way that I can come back here and just switch off in a way, calm down, socialise and interact with the people at my rugby club and then two days later on a Monday I'm back in training, potentially a massive game on the weekend to play," he says.

"That's a good balance, just being able to come here after games or on a Tuesday night, come and switch off and just have a chat with some of the boys. I find it's a good balance but adds to that surreal feeling sometimes out there playing in a packed out Principality Stadium in front of 75,000 fans."

On the professional front, Wainwright's priority is to recover from a hamstring injury sustained during Wales' first Test defeat to Australia this summer. The good news is Wainwright is expected to be fit for Wales' clash with Fiji on November 10 but is keen to play for the Dragons in the first block of the United Rugby Championship season before that.

Wales are currently in the midst of their worst run of defeats since 2003, with nine Test defeats in a row. This is partly down to a significant number of senior players coming to the end of their careers which has forced Warren Gatland to blood a whole host of younger players in one go.

But Wainwright is quietly confident Wales will finally start winning this autumn when they take on Fiji, Australia and South Africa in Cardiff. "Yeah, 100% and the way you've seen the regions start in the league is incredibly encouraging," said Wainwright when asked if Wales would start winning this autumn.

"It's sort of a different feel to the regions this year than it may have been last year. If all four regions are performing and playing well then it will add to the international standard and how we're playing and training as a group when we go into camp so it benefits everyone and hopefully the regions can keep going well.

"There's probably that balance of having a lot of younger guys coming into the squad and a lot of those experienced guys leaving the squad, just getting some of the younger guys up to speed with things and settling into international rugby. If you look back as well there's been a lot of games we've been in and close to winning and two that stick out in my mind is Scotland in the Six Nations and England - lost by one point, lost by two points.

"That's probably where you need a little bit more experience just to see those games out. It's building and if the regions keep performing and playing well, those guys there get that experience of winning and what it takes to win and hopefully that feeds into the international squad."