His coach at Monmouth School, John Bevan, is well known to the elder generation having made 10 Test appearances for Wales in the early 1970s and his role in the Lions’ all-conquering squad that beat New Zealand in 1971.
He also made as well as numerous rugby league caps for Great Britain before concentrating on becoming a full-time teacher and rugby coach to unearth gems like Amos, who was more interested in football.
“I was only young so I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or where rugby could lead to outside of school – it was just about having fun and basic skills,” said the 22-year-old.
“The success we had as a team all through school was attributed to him.”
When Newport Gwent Dragons three-quarter Amos started in Year 7, he didn’t realise his coach had an illustrious international playing career.
Instead, what shone through was his willingness to help others progress, although some of his methods were unusual.
“He’s had a few catchphrases that followed me through school, I’ve even used them when I was leaving school as head boy,” said Amos.
“A big one was shouting ‘my Granny could do it better’ in his thick Welsh accent, which was always quite entertaining!”
Despite playing alongside some of the greatest players in the history of the game, Bevan said he didn’t want to draw attention to his past accolades.
“It’s like talking about the Roman War, it sounds great but it was a million years ago!” he ssaid.
“It’s not going to impress anybody if I said ‘that’s what we did 40 years ago. These boys live in the here and now and they want to know how to progress now or how to win now, so my background doesn’t really matter.”
Now retired, Bevan still coaches on a part-time basis and has an important piece of advice for teenagers who want to emulate Amos.
“Try hard in your academic work and then concentrate on the rugby. If you come to Monmouth for just the rugby, you’ll have a nightmare,” he said.
“It’s got to be for the academia as well because that’s going to stand you in good stead – rugby won’t get you through life totally.”
He may have left education, but the 66-year- old would have to be dragged kicking and screaming from mentoring young hopefuls. And long may it continue.
