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Matt Banahan announces retirement from rugby
By Online Editors
Gloucester winger Matt Banahan has announced that he will retire at the end of the current season.
The popular 33-year-old took to social media to inform his fans that: "My journey is coming to a end, this will be my last season. I will enjoy what the next so many months have got for me."
Speaking to RugbyPass earlier this year, Banahan said that he was struggling to compete with the club's current bevy of super-fast backs. He told Chris Jones: “The way I put it is this; an F1 car from the 1960s is still the fastest car that was around then. I am classing myself as a 1980’s F1 car and these are 2020 F1 cars and they are much faster than I have ever been.
"It is great to see these players develop around me and the opportunities they have given themselves. My game has changed over the years and my brakes are working just as fast but the natural gift they have is amazing and it is great to be part of it."
Prior to signing for Gloucester in 2018, Banahan had racked up over 250 appearances for Bath. His form in the Blue, Black and White has seen him pick up 16 caps for England, featuring in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Standing at 6'7” and weighing over 110kg, Banahan combined pace, power and size, with quality skills in the air, and an eye for the try line, causing havoc for defences in a quality Bath backline in recent seasons, and will now finish his career at Kingsholm.
Having joined Bath in 2006 as a forward, Jersey-born Banahan was moved to the wing by former coach Brian Ashton. Named in the wider England Sevens squad in 2007, Banahan then represented England Saxons three times in 2008, before making his senior debut in 2009 against Argentina.
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Opportunity missed by the Crusaders. A slack effort at their home base means their chances of winning the competition has taken a severe hit. Drua now knows that they have a royal chance of replicating the dose and unless the Crusaders can tighten their defense and stop conceding possession so readily it will happen.
Go to commentsSharks players not accurate but a far bigger problem is the useless coaching set up. Tactically so naive. Running the ball from all quarters against a rush defence in humid conditions is just dumb. Simon Zebo said yesterday that if Rassie Erasmus coached the Sharks they would be the best team in Europe. They have a huge talent pool but terrible coaches.
Leinster were quite brilliant - especially on defence. They remind me very much of the 2019 Boks - kick, chase, defend like demons, force opponents into mistakes and strike off turnover ball. Will be intriguing to see how they go the rest of the season, especially against the French giants in the Champions Cup. They have the best defence in Europe but has that come at the expense of a cutting edge on attack? Having a Nienaber-esque defensive mindset against Toulouse and Bordeaux Begles won’t work.
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