Anthony Watson: England and Leicester Tiger winger on the pain that forced his retirement
He made just 23 appearances for the Tigers in two-and-a-half years with the East Midlands club.
But before that, he spent nine years at Bath, playing 126 games and cementing himself as one of the Premier League’s brightest and most eye-catching players.
For England, he made 23 appearances in 56 games and was dubbed a “modern great”.
“It’s hard to say I’ve dealt with it because I haven’t,” Watson, who began his career with London Irish, said of his retirement.
“But what gives me peace of mind is knowing I did everything I could. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, there’s no way I could go back and change what happened.
“You’ve got to keep moving forward – everyone’s career ends at some point and you can’t play forever. Mine was just a little shorter than I would have liked.”
He said his retirement is not “a sad story” and that he will look back on his time as a player with a smile and look forward to the future knowing he is protecting his body.
“I’ve really enjoyed my career and played for a long time,” he said.
“If you told me this at 19, I would have taken everything I’ve done in my career and retired at 30.
“I’m going to have a lot of physical impairments from playing rugby but I think taking a break from playing rugby now will allow me to do the basic things I need to do as a father, a husband and a son.”
