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Anthony Watson says he is content with what he has achieved in rugby after retiring from the sport on medical grounds.
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The 30-year-old Leicester wing, who played in five British and Irish Lions Tests, won 56 England caps and was part of three Six Nations title-winning squads, has been unable to overcome a back issue that surfaced in January 2024.
His final game was for Tigers against Gallagher Premiership opponents Sale Sharks on December 1, and Watson said: “As I walked off against Sale I knew there was a chance this might be the last one.
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“I was in so much pain, I’d taken a lot of painkillers just to get to that point in the game.
“I was rooming with Polly (Handre Pollard) the night before, and I woke up at 4am because I was in so much pain and I had to take more pain meds to go back to sleep.
“And then I didn’t want to let the team down, so I played the day after – albeit, barely played. I had no influence on the game. After that it was straight back to the surgeon to see what he suggested.
“He tried another injection, and that would bring it to eight or nine injections. I would hate to think how many I’ve had, and it wasn’t as successful as we wanted it to be.
“Beyond that he was ‘I don’t think it’s safe anymore to carry on playing’. It was taken out of my hands and I’m quite grateful it was done that way.
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“It’s hard to say I have dealt with it already because I haven’t. What gives me peace of mind is knowing I did everything I could do, and that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
“Everyone’s career comes to an end at some point – you can’t play forever – and mine is just a bit shorter than I would have liked. Some people are lucky enough to play until they are 39 and I’m not one of those.
“I’m not overly upset by the fact it was taken out of my control. I know how these things work and I have been fortunate enough to play for this long.
“I see it the other way around. I have really enjoyed my career, played a long time and I would have taken all the things I have achieved in my career and retired at 30 if you had told me this at 19.”
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Watson battled back from a number of other injuries during his career, and added: “I think my body will carry a significant amount of, I guess, deficiency as a result of playing rugby.
“Stopping now probably allows me to do the basic things I need to do as a dad, husband and son, so that is the priority.
“If I’m smart, especially in these next two or three months, and I’m able to try and get on top of things and not beat it up, which was what was obviously aggravating it, then I should be in a much better spot.”
Watson cites England’s 2016 Grand Slam as his best rugby memory. That achievement came less than six months after an ignominious World Cup exit on home soil.
He played in all five games of that Six Nations campaign, scoring three tries, with England clinching a clean sweep by beating France in Paris.
“It was just the group we had, what we had been through in 2015, to do it how we did it away in France last game, it was just unreal,” Watson said.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but you just have a different relationship with the people who you went through that with, and that is what makes sport so special.”
England head coach Steve Borthwick, meanwhile, paid tribute to Watson.
“I was fortunate to have coached Anthony both at Leicester Tigers and England. He is a humble, hard-working professional man who is universally liked and admired in the game,” Borthwick said.
“He is to be congratulated on a fantastically successful career.”
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