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'Third neck injury the end of this journey': Bleyendaal issues poignant farewell message

(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Recently retired Munster out-half Tyler Bleyendaal has said that his decision to quit the game was made easier when considering his priorities in life. The 29-year-old was forced to retire on Wednesday on medical grounds after sustaining a neck injury in November last year.

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Having already had neck surgery in 2015 and 2018, the No10 revealed in an Instagram post that a third time was too much. This is what he said:  

“The decision to retire was made easier once I considered what was most important, that being my family and my long term health. I battled a good bit of adversity, like most athletes do, overcoming two neck surgeries and giving everything to being the best player and team-mate I could be, but a third neck injury would be the end of this journey!”

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RugbyPass being you a heartfelt, illuminating chat with All Black front row Karl Tu’inukuafe

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In a candid post, Bleyendaal continued that he leaves the game with “no regrets”, having played for “two world-class organisations”. 

The ex-New Zealand under-20s player joined the province from the Crusaders in January 2015, but would have to wait for his debut having arrived with a neck injury. He made his first of 62 appearances against Benetton in September that year and went on to captain the side on eleven occasions, scoring five tries and kicking 352 points. He shared photos of his time with both sides in his post on social media. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbD7b_jjqw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Bleyendaal extended his gratitude to his “family, friends, team-mates, coaching staff, medical and S&C”, as well as the fans throughout his career in “two rugby-loving provinces”. 

Looking to the future, the Kiwi expressed his desire to move into a coaching capacity. He said: “I would love to stay involved in rugby and enter the coaching scene when I find an opportunity that suits.”

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Finally, Bleyendaal discussed the circumstances that have seen him retire, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it is “sad not to be able to share this moment in person with my team-mates and friends”. While he finds himself in a position that many others have found themselves in, he still said he has “so much to be grateful for”. 

 

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AM 43 minutes ago
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That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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