Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Former Wasps centre Ross Neal retires due to concussion

Ross Neal in action for Seattle (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Former Wasps centre Ross Neal has retired due to concussion at the age of 26 it has been confirmed by his club.

ADVERTISEMENT

The towering centre left English shores for the MLR and Seattle Seawolves, who broke the news that he was retiring over the weekend.

Neal made 29 appearances for the Seawolves since arriving in 2020, scoring 14 tries.

“It’s been an incredibly hard decision and I’m truly gutted to have to stop playing at this point in my career,” Neal said. “I had been struggling with concussion symptoms and I felt I’d been trying to downplay them as I knew what accepting them would mean.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

“This took a bit of a toll on me mentally and on the pitch, so after giving it real thought once the season had ended; I decided it would be best for me to hang up my boots.”

Neal began his career with London Irish where he came through their academy, but it was during a season in the Greene King IPA Championship with London Scottish that Neal came to the attention of Wasps’ then director of rugby Dai Young.

Starting all 22 matches in English rugby’s second tier, Neal used his 6ft 5, 110kg frame and long stride to claim eight tries.

He then went on to score twice on his Premiership debut earning considerable acclaim from the watching BT Sport pundits as Wasps claimed a 32-28 win over Bristol in November 2018.

ADVERTISEMENT

Frustrated by his lack of opportunity in Coventry, Neal requested early release from his contract to taste life in American Major League Rugby with the Seawolves.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wolfhounds vs Gwalia | Celtic Challenge 2024/25 | Match Highlights

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 2 | Ireland Week

New Zealand vs Australia: Behind the Scenes with the Black Ferns Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | E06

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 1

Argentina v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Men's Final Match Highlights

The Dupont Ploy: How France went from underdogs to Olympic gods | The Report

Former rugby player is truly an NFL superstar | Walk the Talk | Jordan Mailata

Boks Office | Episode 33 | Dupont's Toulouse Too Good

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

LONG READ
LONG READ Sherratt parachuted in to inspire Wales as Gatland heads for inglorious exit Sherratt parachuted in to inspire Wales as Gatland heads for inglorious exit
Search