'I’ve been at a fair few clubs – more clubs than Tiger Woods!'

Former England U20 international Rory Jennings has called it quits as a professional rugby player, aged 30, after representing 10 different clubs in a nomadic career.

Jennings, who was once an age-grade teammate of current England prop Ellis Genge, has decided to become a part-time player instead, at National League One Rosslyn Park, while preparing to start a new career outside of the sport in the City and the corporate world

Writing on the business social networking site LinkedIn, the fly-half/centre said: “After 12 fantastic years, I’m stepping away from full-time professional rugby and my time with Cardiff Rugby! It’s been an incredible journey—from Bath, Clermont-Auvergne, Newcastle and London Irish through to Cardiff – and I’m deeply grateful for every match, teammate, and lesson along the way.

“I haven’t hung up the boots entirely, though. I’ve joined Rosslyn Park Football Club, which lets me keep scratching that competitive itch on training nights alongside a brilliant group of lads.

“Now, the main focus is stepping headfirst into the next chapter of my career off the field. Over the past 18 months, I’ve been actively preparing for my transition into the City and corporate world – meeting some fantastic people across institutional sales, re/insurance, real estate, energy broking, private equity, and commodities (amongst others)

“Transitioning out of elite sport isn’t about leaving those years and skills behind; it’s about finding the right environment to apply them. After 12 years of high-pressure, results based environments. I’m eager to showcase how those skills transfer into the commercial world.”

Cardiff were the last club Jennings laced his boots up for, making 10 appearances for the Welsh region in the season just gone.

Jennings’ journey started in the Bath academy and he was contracted by three other Prem clubs – Leicester, where he failed to make an appearance, London Irish and Newcastle.

His career also took in spells in the Championship, sone on loan and some permanent, with Jersey, Rotherham, London Scottish, Ealing and Coventry. Clermont, in the 2020/21 season, was his only adventure overseas.

“I’ve been at a fair few clubs – more clubs than Tiger Woods. That wasn’t the plan. London Irish was probably one of those clubs where I could see myself for a good few years,” he said in an interview in 2024

“I loved my time at London Irish, it suited me perfectly in terms of everything really. The location, the way they play the game and the people around the organisation were just fantastic.

“The second year of that I started to play some good rugby and be part of a good team and one that was probably going to do well for the next five years-plus. It’s a shame the way it went.”

Very few career paths are linnear but not many will have gone down as many cul-de-sacs as Jennings, who believes all the different envionments he came across helped to shape him as a player.

“It can become stressful if you put pressure on yourself. A lot of the time things are out of your hands – one coach might think you are a good player and another might not.

“It is tough, there is no doubt about it, moving all the time and not putting down roots and having to make new friends all the time.

“But on the flipside of that. it has given me the opportunity to meet and know a load more people in the game and, rugby-wise, I have become a lot more knowledgeable. I think it has helped me hearing different people’s opinions and not being stuck in one dogma of how to play the game.

“Some people might look at it as a negative me moving around so much, and I can see where they are coming from. But I like to think it has been a positive for my career,” he once told me.