FORMER Newport Gwent Dragons and Wales hooker Lloyd Burns is hoping to fashion a new career as a coach after he was dramatically forced to retire from playing.

Burns suffered a neck injury which revealed he might one day need heart surgery.

Tests discovered damage to the aorta – the largest artery in the body – and meant he had to quit with immediate effect in April 2012 at the age of 27.

Burns’ meteoric rise to the top read like a Hollywood script.

After years as a semi-professional with Cross Keys, he broke into the Dragons squad and then Warren Gatland’s Wales, taking part in their impressive World Cup campaign in 2011.

But there was to be an alarming and abrupt end to the burgeoning career of the one-time bricklayer.

The story does have a happy ending though, because today he is in good health and the Welsh Rugby Union and Dragons have teamed up to offer the former Pontypool forward a job helping to coach young people in Gwent.

He has his old coach at Keys, Greg Woods, also a rugby development manager for the Dragons region, and the Welsh Rugby Union’s outgoing head of rugby, Joe Lydon, to thank.

“I met up with Greg and then with Joe who put me on a contract doing various roles within the rugby community,” he said.

“They have consisted of being forwards coach with the Pontypool Schools Dewar Shield side and going through primary schools in the Pontypool, Newport and Cwmbran areas delivering skills sessions there and at camps in the school holidays.”

Helping develop young people’s rugby skills is something Burns, who won seven caps for Wales in 2011, loves doing. “After leaving the game a bit early in an unexpected way, it’s good to keep my foot in the door,” he said.

“It’s good to still be involved in rugby and I’m enjoying it and it’s going well so far.”

He would like to coach a senior side one day but admits he finds the prospect a painful one currently because of the circumstances of his retirement. “I would like to coach, but it’s early days yet,” he said.

"I’ve been retired a year and a half. “To commit fully to a senior side would be silly for me to do at the moment – it’s still pretty raw not playing. I haven’t ruled it out and I would like to coach a senior team in the future.

"At the moment, I’d like to stay away from that. It’s still too raw – it would be like rubbing salt in the wound. I’ve completed my (WRU) level two course and the next step forward now is the level three which I believe starts in six or seven months’ time.”

On his health, he said: “It’s very good. I feel fitter now than ever. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling. I’m probably a stone, stone and a half lighter than when I was playing.

"At the moment I’m okay. There’s been no change to my health since retiring, so that’s good news.

“I have to keep it (the problem with his aorta) under observation and keep a check on it every six months, but it’s so far, so good.”

Dragons rugby development manager Woods revealed how the WRU moved to help Burns when his playing career came to an end.

"The union wanted to help Lloyd when he had to retire suddenly and we wanted him in our development department,” he said.

“He’s been working with my development officers, helping a wide range of children from three-year-olds up to secondary schools.

“We need good role models and Lloyd certainly is that. His is a good example for everyone because he has started right at the bottom – he’s done it correctly to get a really good grounding.

“He’s definitely got a future as a coach. To be a good coach, I think you have to have good values and morals and Lloyd is as honest as the day is long.”