James Craig quits at the age of just 30 but plans to stay involved in rugby
Northampton second row James Craig will retire from professional rugby at the end of the 2018/19 season to pursue a career in coaching.
The towering 30-year-old lock has made 73 appearances to date since arriving at Franklin’s Gardens from Leeds Carnegie in 2011.
After an impressive first season in the East Midlands saw him reach the 2012 Anglo-Welsh Cup final with Saints, injuries curtailed his progress over the next two campaigns, but he did collect two winners’ medals in 2014 for playing a role in Northampton’s European Challenge Cup and Premiership successes.
Playing regular rugby over the next two seasons, Craig helped Saints top the Premiership table at the end of the regular season in 2015 and earned an international call-up for England Saxons’ 2016 tour of South Africa.
Craig has been assisting with the training of Northampton’s academy sides over the past four seasons and will now look to move into coaching on a full-time basis.
“After eight years of professional rugby I have made the decision to call time on my career, but I'm extremely proud to have contributed so much at Franklin’s Gardens,” he said.
“I have been battling injuries for some time now, but I am so grateful to my teammates and all the medical and backroom staff at the club for everything they have done for me during my time here.
“Thanks also must go to my friends and family, as well as Northampton’s loyal supporters, for all their encouragement during my career.
“I'm continuing to try and help the squad as much as possible until my cotract is complete, but I'm excited to see what the future holds.
“The opportunity to coach the club’s academy over the last couple of seasons has been invaluable experience for me, so my thanks must go to Simon Sinclair and Mark Hopley for their support with that. I hope to take my next steps into a full-time coaching career in the coming months.”
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SH rugby is dying. To win, the teams have had to rely on the incompetence of the refs.
You had a good run, but hopefully world rugby gets better standards for refs and your slide to irrelevance will be quick and justified.
Go to commentsI dont believe Skelton has ever proven himself at test level tho Nick. Yep he played well against a side they scored plenty against but his record v the top sides isnt special. Good quality player but Im not as convinced about him as you seem to be, as you base most of your opinion on his local club stuff not really his test performances. His test record of 30 tests in 10 years explains itself very well. I think he is an honest performer but certainly not a top notch International player.
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