James Rodwell to retire at end of season

The most capped rugby sevens player of all time James Rodwell will retire from professional rugby at the end of the 2018/19 season.
 

 
Rodwell became England Sevens’ most capped player when celebrating his 71st appearance at the Cape Town Sevens in December 2016 where his team defeated South Africa in the Cup final to win gold.

Commenting on his retirement at the end of the season, Rodwell said: “It’s been an amazing journey from when I first started playing sevens – I would never have imagined that I’d pull on an England jersey this many times. The pleasure that I still get from representing my country is incredible and it’s still a huge honour to wear the England shirt.

 
“The game of sevens has grown so much in the 12 years that I have been involved. It began with part-time players coming together for tournaments and now has players on fully-professional contracts and is about to feature in the Olympics for the second time – I’m very proud to have been a part of that.

 
“As well as my family there are lot of people that I have to thank for my career over the years – going all the way back to my school, university and Moseley coaches who believed in me before the likes of Ben Ryan, Russell Earnshaw and Simon Amor who have all given me so much support within the England Sevens programme. The level of detail that Simon Amor puts into getting players into the right place both physically and mentally has played such a huge part in me being able to have played for such a long time.

 
“The real memories come from all the players that I have been fortunate enough to play with and against throughout my career and I have forged some friendships that will last a lifetime. There is no better feeling than running out onto the pitch with some of your closest friends to some of the most passionate fans in rugby from all around the world.”

 
At the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens where England played in the Cup final, Rodwell had reached 50 consecutive World Series appearances. He then went on to set the record number of consecutive appearances of 69 two years later at the 2016 Singapore Sevens.

 
Rodwell was a pivotal member of the Team GB squad for the Rio 2016 Olympics where rugby sevens made its Olympic debut. Rodwell scored two tries for Team GB in the tournament and helped his side take home the silver medal.
 

As well as featuring in the Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Rodwell helped England to bronze medal success at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 where they defeated South Africa to earn their spot on the podium.

 
After making his first Rugby World Cup Sevens appearance for England in Dubai in 2009, Rodwell also represented his country at the Moscow Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2013 where England were defeated by New Zealand in the final. Last year Rodwell played in his last World Cup tournament in San Francisco where England won silver after losing out to New Zealand again in the final.