Lynn Evans may no longer be involved in day-to-day club rugby, but he is not putting his feet up just yet.

The former Oxford University and Chinnor coach has been an influential figure on the county scene since 1962.

And aged 70, he is now a part-time contributor for a new Rugby Football Union (RFU) coaching website.

He explained: “That involves going around and interviewing various coaches at the top level, getting tips from them, and producing some myself.

“I work with the Penguins (a touring team that seeks to develop rugby worldwide) at the same time.”

“I can do as much as I want. Picking and choosing a bit more.”

This is the latest stage in a career that begun when he joined Littlemore Grammar School as a teacher in 1962.

Evans introduced rugby to the school and joined Oxford RFC as a fly half and centre.

“They were just below the top level,” he said.

“There were a lot of fixtures with Welsh sides and some of the top English clubs like Bedford and London Irish.”

Evans played for Oxfordshire between 1963 and 1969, twice reaching the national County Championship semi-finals at a time when this was the level below international.

He dislocated a shoulder in 1966, and stopped playing seriously in the early 70s.

“It was just too risky to play at the top level, so I started to turn my hand to coaching,” he added.

Evans was one of the first people to go on an RFU coaching course at Lilleshall, and gained experience with Oxford, Oxfordshire and in the county schools set-up.

Littlemore is still Evans’ home today, and he founded the local club in 1976.

“A lot of the boys weren’t playing rugby when they left school,” said Evans.

“They were one of the first rugby clubs to have permission for a clubhouse on a school site.”

He took over as Oxford University coach in 1981 and finished after the 1995 Varsity Match.

Evans said: “It was the same year I saw Pierre Villepreux (French full back) do a coaching session at Marlow.

“That really was a defining moment in my coaching.

“That year I went to Toulouse and stayed with Pierre for a week.

“I started getting insight into their coaching methods, which is a link I have had ever since.

“The other big influence was Chalky White, a very respected Leicester coach.

“He was massively supportive, like a mentor.

“He was looking at the detail and Villepreux would give you the big picture.”

How was Evans appointed to one of amateur rugby’s most prestigious roles?

“The captain and secretary, who was Simon Halliday, rang me up as they needed somebody to help them,” he said.

“I think somebody gave them my name.

“Stuart Barnes was a first year back then and we had a pretty good side.

“It was still an amateur job. I just got expenses.”

Evans continued his work at Littlemore Grammar.

“I took early retirement in 1990, so I could be development officer for Oxfordshire and part-time coach for the university,” he added.

Evans retired from his Oxon role in 2003 by which time he had already spent seven years at Chinnor He said: “In 1995 I was approached by Chinnor. Their president kept faxing me things.

“I made the mistake of saying I would come over and do a session!”

Evans was later director of rugby alongside John Brodley, then Jason Bowers, before finally stepping down at the end of last season.”

Even now, Evans has been reviewing videos of this season’s matches for Bowers to see if he can help Chinnor survive in National 3 South.

But he stressed: “I don’t want to get too involved.

“I have been travelling a lot this year. I wouldn’t have done that if I was still involved Monday, Thursday, Saturday.”

After more than 40 years involved in local rugby, what does Evans consider his highlights?

As a player, he cites Oxon’s County Championship campaign in 1964-65, and a memorable quarter-final at Iffley Road.

“We were the first Southern Region team to reach that stage,” said Evans.

“We beat a very strong Gloucestershire side at Iffley Road in front of 4,000 people.

“We then lost 6-3 at Durham in the semi-final, though I swear to this day I dropped a goal.

“It went higher than the posts, but the referee couldn’t decide if it was through.

“We had quite a few first-class players and it was well organised by our captain, Geoffrey Windsor-Lewis.

“I think that was where my shoulder went, tackling for him, but I learnt a lot about motivation.”

As a coach, Evans named his 1988 Oxford University team, which included internationals David Kirk (New Zealand), Brian Smith (Australia and Ireland), David Evans (Wales), Ian Williams, Troy Coker and Rob Egerton (all Australia).

“They were an exceptional group of players,” he said.

“The level of rugby we played that year was outstanding.

“I would also rate Tyrone Howe’s side of 1994.

“We only lost a couple of games and beat Romania.”

Of the latter team, he recalled a training session with Villepreux.

Evans said: “Villepreux got a bit frustrated because there were some boys banging into each other.

“So he said ‘let’s go to the changing rooms’.

“He said ‘now if you boys want to go out of this room, which way do you go?’ “There were some looking at each other before an Irish boy said ‘I suppose you go through the door’.

“He said ‘why on the field, you always play against the wall?’ “He was trying to open minds. That year we saw such a development.

“We went to Bath and lost by about three points, although we played with about 20 per cent of the ball.

“I would also add winning the County Cup for the first time with Chinnor and winning promotion to the National Leagues as other highlights.”