Wales centre Tom Shanklin announces retirement from all forms of rugby – Rugby update
Wales and Cardiff Blues centre Tom Shanklin announced his retirement from all forms of rugby on yesterday.
The centre was forced to take the decision after continuous injuries since last few months. Recently he was out of action since January with a devastating knee injury that could not be recovered even after surgery.
The 31-year-old Shanklin took the bitter decision of his retirement just four months before the start of Rugby World Cup which is quite disappointing for any player. The Rugby World Cup is kicking off later this year in New Zealand on 9thSeptember.
Shanklin has played for Wales, Cardiff Blues and Irish Lions during his long rugby career. He is also the most test capped player for Wales as he has participated in 70 tests for his country. Tom Shanklin has everything to cheer about in his ten years long
rugby career. He is one of the highest try scorers for Wales with 20 tries under his belt in 70 appearances. He was also the part of Welsh team that won the grand slams in 2005 and 2008.
He disclosed about his expected retirement on yesterday in a press briefing. He told the media that he underwent a knee surgery in January after being sidelined from the team. The scan revealed that there was a bone over bone on his knees and that was too
much to carry on the game.
He said, “My knee isn't too bad, it's ok to walk and cycle and to do everyday things, but with regards to playing rugby: accelerating, changing direction, weight lifting, it's not too good.”
The Wales centre has been undergone knee operation twice or thrice before this but the last one proved to be fatal. He quoted the opinion of his surgeon Rhys Williams who has conducted his operation every time.
Shanklin said, “The advice from Rhys Williams the surgeon was to retire. Rhys knows the inside of my knee pretty well having done three or four operations on it.”
However he admitted that final decision was made by him after ponder upon every possible option. He argued that he had a bad record regarding the knee injuries that kept him under pressure throughout his rugby career.
He shifted his conversation while saying, “It was down to me to decide if I can continue or not, but I can't go on, as it's too sore and it's a pretty black and white situation. I can't fully function with it and I need to start taking account of my body
and start listening to it.”
He declared that the achievement of grand slam in 2008 was the favourite moment of his career.
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