Statement: England midfielder has retired with immediate effect at the age of 27

Statement: England midfielder has retired with immediate effect at the age of 27

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Former England and Leicester Tigers player Guy Porter has confirmed his retirement from the sport with immediate effect at the age of 27, exclusively speaking to RugbyDump.

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In June 2022, Porter received his first call-up to the England senior team from coach Eddie Jones. Although on the bench for the first Test, Porter did not play as England lost 30-28. He made his debut in the second Test, starting at centre in a 25-17 win for England.

Porter was initially left out of the 2023 Six Nations Championship squad due to injury. However, he was called up a week before the tournament began to replace Leicester Tigers team-mate Dan Kelly, who was sidelined with a thigh injury.

Porter told Rugby Dump exclusively: “I had a particularly long injury in November that I struggled to recover from. I talked to a few doctors and neurologists during recovery and tried to work through it in my head, but ultimately I decided that I would push it as far as I wanted.

It would undoubtedly have an impact on my approach to the game, and I only really enjoyed it when I was willing to put my head in the spokes. Once I felt like I didn’t want to do that anymore, I realized it was probably time to move on while I still felt positive about it.

“I finished my contract and in the context of all that I decided not to look for anything else because I felt the continued risk was greater than my desire to continue.”

When asked what the next step was, Porter replied: “I feel lucky, honestly. I didn’t turn professional until I was 22, so I went to university and did some work in the past, so I have a bit of a base there, so yeah, it’s definitely a change of pace!

“I feel pretty positive and excited about it, so it’s definitely not a sad story. I think people have been really nice and endearing, and they feel sorry for me to a certain extent, but I feel like I’ve had a really good experience with it and now I feel positive about doing something else.”

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England to play Wales at expanded 2027 Rugby World Cup

During the draw, the 24 participating teams are divided into six groups, each consisting of four teams. It is notable that this draw takes place before the regional qualifications have been completed, resulting in a dual-world approach.

On one side we have the twelve automatic qualifiers of the Rugby World Cup 2023, confirmed by their names. On the other side, the regional qualifiers are shown as Africa 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, and so on.

The 2027 Rugby World Cup will be held in Australia, marking the 11th edition of the Men’s Rugby World Cup and the third time it will be hosted in Australia. The country previously co-hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup with New Zealand in 1987 and was the sole host in 2003.

With the current world rankings in mind, we take a look at what the 2027 Rugby World Cup will look like via Rugby Centre.

2027 Rugby World Cup draw (current rankings)

SWIMMING POOL A

  • South Africa
  • Argentina
  • Samoa
  • Spain

SWIMMING POOL B

  • Ireland
  • Australia
  • Georgia
  • Romania
Antoine Dupont of France during the Guinness Six Nations match between England and France at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on Saturday 11 March 2023 | Photo: James Fearn/PPAUK.

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