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Jack Regan explains his immediate-effect retirement from playing

Jack Regan during his Ospreys days (Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Former Highlanders and Ospreys forward Jack Regan has retired from playing with immediate effect at the age of 27. The Irishman created headlines with a 2021 Super Rugby breakthrough at the Highlanders.

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This resulted in a move to Ospreys but injury limited him to just 10 appearances and he has now brought the curtain down on his career following a stint in Japan with Skokki Shuttles.

Writing on Facebook, Regan said: “After much reflection, it is time to end the dream of playing professional rugby. This journey has been nothing short of extraordinary, allowing me to live out my boyhood dream of playing the sport I love at the highest level.

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‘This Energy Never Stops’ – One year to go until the Women’s Rugby World Cup

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    ‘This Energy Never Stops’ – One year to go until the Women’s Rugby World Cup

    With exactly one year to go until Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 kicks off
    in Sunderland, excitement is sweeping across the host nation in anticipation of what
    will be the biggest and most accessible celebration of women’s rugby ever.

    Register now for the ticket presale

    “From the early days at Birr RFC all the way to Japan, incredible experiences with UCD, Ballynahinch, Ulster, Dunedin Sharks, Otago, Highlanders, Ospreys, and Toyota Shokki, I have been blessed to play for some amazing clubs and meet incredible people around the world along the way.

    “The last 10 years have been a rollercoaster. From the highs of playing Super Rugby in New Zealand to the tough realities of sport by way of dealing with a possible career-ending health scare.

    “This has taken a toll on my mental health, particularly anxiety around my own health has been a constant battle. I have given everything I have to rugby, but it has become clear that my body can’t give enough back.

    “Now, it is time to put myself first. I am looking forward to this next chapter with a grateful heart and a focus on health and well-being. Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my career. Your encouragement has meant the world to me.”

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    f
    fl 17 minutes ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    “He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

    He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


    “He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

    He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


    If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


    “You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

    Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


    “Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

    Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


    “You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

    Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

    But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


    Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

    Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


    So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


    Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

    168 Go to comments
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    AlanCriner 27 minutes ago
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    AlanCriner 46 minutes ago
    Exeter look to Charlie Chapman to boost scrum-half options

    My name is Alan Criner, and I'm a resident of Toronto, CA. I'm a 45-year-old financial analyst who has always been cautious with my investments. However, in my quest to diversify my portfolio, I fell prey to a devastating fake crypto investment scam, losing 125,000 Canadian dollars' worth of Bitcoin. This traumatic experience sent my life into a downward spiral, leaving me depressed and feeling hopeless.

    Despite my repeated attempts to contact the account manager who initially approached me on Telegram, I was met with silence. They refused to provide any explanation or information, and I was locked out of my account on their website. The authorities were unable to assist me, as the scammers were untraceable.

    Just when I thought all was lost, my nephew, a Canadian government lawyer, introduced me to Morphohack Cyber Service, a reputable private investigator and crypto recovery company. I visited their website (www . morphohackcyber . com) and, after mustering the courage, contacted them. They listened attentively as I recounted my ordeal and educated me on the scam, revealing that numerous others had fallen victim to the same scheme.

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    0 Go to comments
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    Six Nations: 5 things we've learned from half-way point weekend

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    N
    NB 2 hours ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    https://www.london.edu/think/how-claudio-ranieri-transformed-leicester-city


    He jts knew how to use that deep well of knowledge accumulate over many years of management. A true Moneyball story!

    168 Go to comments
    f
    fl 2 hours ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    “Two comparable achievements 15 years apart (at different clubs in different leagues) represent failure and not continued success for an elite level coach/manager? Not even a hint of consistency? Just gradual, inevitable decline? And all because he is in his sixth decade?”

    Why don’t you try reading what I wrote before you start inventing a load of other random things that I didn’t say. I said “Pep hasn’t gotten better with age”. He hasn’t. I don’t think he’s got much worse, and yeah, he’s been fairly consistent over his career and has had more success than almost any other coach. But he hasn’t gotten better.


    “You’ve missed that Mourinho’s early start in football was as a translator for Bobby Robson (ironically a much older manager at the time!).”

    I was actually aware of that. I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t relevant to the fact that Mourinho - aged 52 - had more experience than Arteta does at 43. It also isn’t ironic that Bobby Robson was a much older manager at the time - it actually confirms by point that a lot of the top football managers used to be older than they are today.


    “You suggested that Les Kiss would not be suited to an international coaching role because of his age profile…that seemed to relate to rugby”

    That did relate to rugby. Let me walk you through the thread…


    NB suggested that Les Kiss should become Australia head coach in 2027.

    I said: “Given the drop off so many top coaches seem to experience as they get older (e.g. Jones, Gatland) Kiss could be a riskier appointment than you’d think!”

    NB said: “Drawing a parallel with the NFL and NBA, plenty of coaches stay well into their 70’s”

    I said: “Not all sports are going the same way though” then gave the example of football.


    The example of football was introduced in order to make the point that the age profile of managers is not the same in every sport. If you had read the thread you were replying to you would know this!

    168 Go to comments
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