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Jake Polledri lands coaching role after early retirement
By Josh Raisey
Former Italy back row Jack Polledri will join National 1 outfit Cinderford as a coach for the 2024/25 season.
The 20-cap Italy international announced his retirement from rugby in March at the age of 28 due to an inability to fully recover from the catastrophic knee injury he suffered in 2020.
He will begin his journey into coaching with the Gloucestershire club, who currently sit at the foot of the National 1 table, English rugby's third tier.
This move will also see Polledri make a return to English rugby, having played the final months of his career in Italy with Zebre in the United Rugby Championship after joining from Gloucester at the end of last season.
Polledri spent the bulk of his career with the Cherry and Whites, but it was in the blue of Italy where he suffered the knee injury that ultimately led to his retirement.
He opened up on the injury in his retirement message online: "My return to the pitch from my catastrophic knee injury in 2020 was tough. A lot of people wrote me off immediately, which didn’t deter me. From complete paralysis in my foot to 677 days later being able to run out at Gloucester Kingsholm again. The support from the Kingsholm fans was immense and is cherished.
"Thank you to Gloucester for all the years of support, I could not have recovered this far without the incredible team of physios and S&C. Enabling me to uphold my promise to my late brother Sam, that I was to return to the pitch.
"My foot however hasn’t returned back to 100% and ultimately it has affected my ability to return to the high level of rugby I played, and it has also affected life generally. I have reluctantly accepted that my body and professionals are telling me to retire from the sport that I love."
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Latest Comments
As a fan of both him and his teams at the time, I can tell you there was plenty to like and bank on a succesful career with.
With all due respect to the lot of middling centres at the time, NZ has 5 SR sides and all have International level quality players after all, it was two young sensations at the time, in Charlie Ngatai and Anton Lienert-Brown, along with the dawn Dmac squishing the other versatile players into midfield, that got contract preference when SBW came back into the side for WC year.
So that is no slight on how good a player he already was, I just don't think he had much of a choice with the lack of funds to have that many test standard 12's on the books. So of course as things panned out, we know how would have been their and had plenty of chances with all the injuries SBW, Crotty, ALB, Ngatai, and Laumape. I think a very high chance he nails it and is the Nonu of the 2017 BIL tour.
Go to commentsRobertson should have been a bit more experimental, preparing for the trip up North. Cane should been rested to allow for the Savea (7) and Sititi (8) pairing to be given a run because they appear to be the new way forward. Six is far from settled on with Blackadder only a temporary fix as like his other loosies he is either too short, too light or too slow, and so his best role is cover. ALB,Proctor or both should have been given a run as Australia's midfield is an ever changing experiment and then Reiko could have been put back on the left wing with Telea on the right. Will Jordan could then come on later to fullback or wing.
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