7. Taione Vea
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The Newcastle prop was been forced to retire from rugby due to a spinal injury in October 2015, aged 27.
The 27-year-old Tonga international was hurt during Newcastle’s Premiership opener against Sale Sharks in September 2016
Announcing the news on Newcastle’s website, Vea said: “I took a bad knock in the game against Sale and spent a few nights in hospital, and when I had my scan results unfortunately things didn’t come back too well.
“I was left paralysed for five or six minutes on the field, where I couldn’t feel my whole body. That is enough for anybody in a lifetime and the risk of that happening again if I was to return to playing is quite high. It is obviously not the way I wanted to go.
“At the age I am and the way I felt I was playing, I was planning on a fair few more years. But having spoken to medical professionals and specialists, I have had to just accept the fact there is more to life than playing the game I love.”