Ben Herring is back to where his senior rugby career first started. But he has certainly fitted in a bit in-between. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn catches up with Herring, who has just returned to Dunedin.
Ben Herring could have been washed up in rugby at 29.
But a burgeoning coaching career has Herring excited about the future.
It all seems a long way from the fresh-faced young student out of Auckland Grammar who arrived in the South to study physical education in Dunedin in the late 1990s.
Herring impressed for Alhambra-Union, twice being named player of the season in Dunedin club rugby, and ended up playing for Southland.
Despite not being the biggest of flankers, he was a real livewire and made every post a winner with Southland.
He was picked for the Highlanders in 2003, played two games and then transferred to Wellington and the Hurricanes.
He played well in the capital but, with plenty of talent in the loose forwards, by 2007 he found his way to Leicester in England.
Herring played two full seasons for the English powerhouse but worries over concussion forced him to hang up his boots.
''In the end, it was an easy decision to retire. I had three big knocks in a season and it was tough. I was grumpy, dyslexic, had headaches for three or four months,'' he said.
''I was 29 and had to give it up. So me and my wife and family were all set to go on a Kombi van trip around the United States.
''But then I got asked if I wanted to be an assistant coach with Leicester. Be the skills coach with the side. And we thought 'Why not ?'''It was a great environment to be in and learn as a coach. With really good coaches and some really great players.''
Herring (35) said Leicester was full of internationals and it was a real privilege to be involved.
''You'd have a morning session with someone like Italian prop Martin Castrogiovanni, then lineouts with [England lock] Geoff Parling ... it was great for me as a coach. All these big names to work with.''
After two years at Leicester, he decided that if his coaching career was to advance he had to move on.
He linked with former Highlanders coach Greg Cooper in Japan, as a forwards and defence coach for NEC.
It was an enjoyable two years in Japan, as his family enjoyed the lifestyle and Herring improved his coaching.
''I think Japan helps for your coaching as there is so much more time. You have time to plan, time to re-evaluate.''
But with baby No 3 on the way for the Herrings, by 2013 it was time to go somewhere else.
"We [Ben and wife Wal] both wrote down on a piece of paper where we wanted to go. I wrote down California, I don't know why really, and my wife wrote down Canada, for the mountain-biking, even though she was pregnant at the time.''
The couple ended up at Vancouver Island and Herring was quickly snapped up by Canadian rugby through former All Black Kieran Crowley, who is now the Canadian head coach.
Herring got involved in the Canadian sevens programme and also other sides and said it was an awesome experience.
''The thing with the Canadians is they have to upskill their athletes. Teach them how to catch and pass and tackle. They have a lot of power and fitness but they do not have that rugby sense.''
He coached the Canadian side at the Gold Coast sevens tournament and also helped out in age-group sides.
But it was becoming tough on the family, being away from home for six months a year.
''So I finished up there and we decided to do that trip around the United States.''
The family - Ben, Wal, and children Huxley (now 6), Rocket (3) and Eckhart (1) - jumped in a camper van and spent three months touring around the land of the free and home of the brave.
''It was great. We had three kids, 5 and under, with another one on the way. But it was awesome. Then one night we broke down and we were at a truck stop.
''We said `Right, this is a good time to work out what is next'. We decided this is the time to come back to New Zealand.''
The couple did not want to go to Auckland or the Bay of Islands, where they grew up, so decided to head to Dunedin, where they met as students. So they have landed back in the South.
Wal is a qualified nutrition consultant and homeopath and has worked with international sports teams while Ben is keen to keep up his coaching career.
''I want to keep going coaching-wise. I've had some pretty awesome experiences ... I have probably missed out on this year but I'd like to get involved in a programme somewhere.''
In the meantime, he is helping out with Otago sides and also lending a hand with Otago Boys' High School teams.
''I like the coaching aspect of it rather than the pure rugby side of it. Just the motivation stuff, the aspirations of the team, all the planning you have to do.
''I suppose I was lucky to get some of those breaks. That is if you believe in luck. It is not all luck. People are looking at what I am doing and I'm keen to help.''
