Connacht’s Robbie Morris retires due to back injury
A once-promising rugby career has been cut short as Robbie Morris has announced he is retiring from all forms of the game, after a nagging back injury made playing impossible.
Morris told Connacht’s website that he was forced to retire because the pain in his back is too much. He also reminisced about his career, which also featured his picking up two caps for England internationally
and playing for Northampton early in his career.
“I've played a lot of big games over the 10 years and it's impossible to pick a best moment but getting my first cap against Wales (in 2003) in Cardiff was huge moment in my career, playing in front of a
full house at Twickenham, playing the likes of Toulouse and Biarritz in the Heineken cup for Northampton and the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final last year against Toulon, they're all big occasions to look back on," he said.
Morris, who plays tighthead prop, said that the increasingly physical nature of the game was in large the reason for his hanging up his boots.
“Rugby is a very physical game now; when I first became a professional rugby player the front rows role it was a very different," he said.
It often happens that as players get older they make the transition into rugby league, which is a less physical form of the game than rugby union. But that wasn’t an option for Morris.
Former Connacht coach Michael Bradley had nothing but good things to say about
Morris, whom he credited with giving the squad a huge boost. The club’s fortunes have greatly improved in recent years, including a recent
win over Samoa in an exhibition.
"Robbie was a very important signing for Connacht in 2007 at a time when players were slow to commit their future to the Province," he said.
"Robbie brought a wealth of experience to Connacht and rose the level of expectation and confidence throughout the entire squad and the Connacht supporters."
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