"Should retire" - Five players who've gone backwards in 2022

Some players hit the heights and stay there. Others don’t. This is the list of the latter.

Plenty of players have hit the heights in their career, only to suffer a huge fall from grace.

Many fans complain about the guy who never replicated the form from their games but who are those who’ve effectively gone backwards over the last eight months?

Spent most of the year on the sidelines before an underwhelming return as Wales got beat by Italy, ending. the latter's 36 match losing run in the Six Nations. He's gone from Lions captain to some fans calling for him to retire in just 12 months.

Arguably one of Harlequins players of the season as they won the Premiership in 2021, his career has seemingly fallen off a cliff since joining Newcastle. The Falcons have cut his deal short following a number of underwhelming performances with the former England fullback set to be clubless this summer.

Another player who suffered a torrid 2022 Six Nations. For all his attacking brilliance on the ball, question marks over his defending and his work rate off it continue to dog the 21-year-old.

Seems to have gone back to putting in error-strewn unpredictable performances. It's hard to work out if he improves or a team or makes them worse as his recent performance against Stade Francais for Racing clearly shows.

Possibly the one player with the most justification to feel aggrieved with Eddie Jones’ squad refresh ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup. The Saracens prop went from being a British & Irish Lions starter in the second Test to being surplus to requirements.