As I awoke bleary-eyed this morning, the news of Guy Porter’s early retirement appeared like a mirage at the top of X’s (formerly Twitter) incredibly cluttered timeline. Was this still part of an oddly clustered dream or had the once promising England centre decided to call the game he loved, quits?
As the morning cocktail of coffee and frosted shreddies kicked in (not in the same bowl of course), the realisation set in that the now former Leicester Tiger had, indeed, called it a day on his rugby career. But the question was, why?
Rumours were spreading like wildfire around the rugby community, what could have caused a young, fit man to have called it a day at such a young age? Could it have been a myriad of factors, or was it just the simple reason that he had had enough of putting his body on the line in the multitude of English weathers?
Well, the only way to truly find out was to speak to the man himself. So, after a couple of caffeinated coffees and a quick phone call, Porter gave me the lowdown himself.
Here is what he had to say:
“I had a particularly long-term injury from November which I struggled to get back from. I spoke to a few doctors and neurologists along the recovery journey and tried to work it out in my head, but ultimately, I’d decided that I’d pushed it as far as I’d like to.
“It was bound to have an impact on my approach to the game, and I only really enjoyed it if I was willing to put my head in the spokes. As soon as I felt like I didn’t have the desire to do that I realised it was probably time to move on while I was still feeling positive about it.
“I finished my contract and in the context of all that, I just decided not to look for anything else because I felt like the ongoing risk outweighed my desire to continue.”
So, what’s next for the former England international?
“I’m just in the process of working that out, applying for jobs, and moving on to something else.
Able to build upon his existing Law degree, Porter continued:
“I feel lucky, to be honest, I wasn’t professional until I was 22, so I went to uni and I’ve done some work in the past so I’ve got a little bit of a foundation there, so yeah it’s certainly a change of pace!
“I’m feeling pretty positive and excited about it, so it’s certainly not a sob story. I think people are very lovely and endearing, and feel sorry for me to some extent, but I feel like I’ve had a really good experience of it and now I’m feeling positive about doing something else.”
So, to sign off, what has been his proudest moment as a professional rugby player?
“Without question the Premiership final and the story of where that couple of year journey had come from and where it had ended, and to have my best mates and family to the grand final, so to have them there in person was pretty special.
“Similarly playing in Sydney in front of lots of people for England was a pretty surreal experience. So those would be my highlights.”
As the interview came to an end, the discussion turned to the Olympic sevens and the sheer spectacle that the first couple of days had broadcast.
Porter expressed his disappointment not to have seen Team GB represented but was hugely proud of how his friends from Australia had performed in their opening matches. He also nodded his cap to the mighty impressive Australian women’s side, who he believes will light up the tournament.
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