Back injury forces Morris to hang up the boots

Date Published: 18-Nov-2010

GLOWING tributes have been paid to Connacht prop forward Robbie Morris who has been forced to retire due to a back injury.

A native of Hertford in England, Morris made his Connacht debut against South Africa in 2007 and added 39 Magners League caps and 17 European Challenge Cup games to his Connacht tally before being forced into retirement.

Morris began his rugby career at the age of eight with his local side Hertford RFC. At the age of 18, Premiership side the Northampton Saints came calling. Morris had a difficult decision to make as he had just won a silver Commonwealth Youth Games medal for the discuss in Edinburgh.

His choice was rewarded when he was named in the England U18 squad. He made his debut for the Saints in 2001 and went on to make 56 Premiership and 17 Heineken Cup appearances, including reaching the Heineken Cup quarter-final in 2005.

While at Northampton, Morris was called into the England Senior squad and made his debut against Wales as a 21 year old in 2003. The 2005/6 season saw him make the switch to the Newcastle Falcons where he played with fellow Connacht forward Michael McCarthy.

In two seasons with the Falcons, he made 35 appearances before moving to the West of Ireland. On reflecting on his career highlights, Morris said: “I’ve played a lot of big games over the 10 years and it’s impossible to pick a best moment, but getting my first cap against Wales (in 2003) in Cardiff was huge moment in my career, playing in front of a full house at Twickenham, playing the likes of Toulouse and Biarritz in the Heineken Cup for Northampton and the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final last year against Toulon, they’re all big occasions to look back on.

“Rugby is a very physical game now. When I first became a professional rugby player the front rows role was a very different – it was more about scrummaging, lineouts, mauling and maybe getting in a few cheap shots in carrying the ball and making tackles.

"The props that did do a bit around the field were the ones who really stood out, the likes of Phil Vickery, Trevor Woodman and Tom Smith, but if you look at today’s players they are expected to these things as standard.”