Ex-all Black:

professionals has been replaced by tasks such as setting out cones on training fields and wondering how many people will have to skip training because of work commitments.

‘‘Sometimes you are scratching your head, you are not sure how many players you are going to get. You are hoping to get 30, you might end up with 18 for whatever reason and work will often be one of them.

‘‘They are amateurs, they have to work. So you have all those frustrations that exist around amateur rugby. And they are probably amplified here even more.’’

Mannix travelled through Asia last year, speaking to top coaches in Japan to get their views on the sport in the region before taking on the job in Singapore.

He liked the idea of getting back to the basics of coaching. He’s not been disappointed.

Covid-19 has forced everything in Singapore to grind to a halt, but before the pandemic Mannix enjoyed seeing the gains his players were making.

‘‘I must say I loved seeing the progression of the players here, the men and women. It has been great to watch.

‘‘You might say you are starting at a low point, but any progression is a little win.’’

Mannix continues to admire New Zealand rugby, and how Kiwis approach the game, but says his time in Europe had lifted the blinds from his eyes.

‘‘It’s probably a comment New Zealanders will make once they have travelled for a few years. And they come back, and they see things can be done another way.’’

A former first five-eighth, who made his All Blacks debut in a mid-week match in France just 68 days after his 19th birthday in 1990, Mannix earned his solitary test cap against France in Christchurch almost four years later.

When Steve Hansen announced he was stepping aside as All Blacks coach after the World Cup, there was the usual clamour to guess who might make-up the new coaching staff.

Mannix’s name was among those added to the ubiquitous listicles but he says he didn’t