Former Wales and Lions skipper Sam Warburton has opened up on the physical toll he suffers from after his retirement from rugby for health reasons last year.
“I was really enjoying it. I’d do the nursery run with my daughter, come back, get the dog, buy a coffee and a flapjack and walk around the park. Heaven. There was the book coming out and it got great reviews, which was overwhelming.
“I think it was an eye-opener because of what the professional player has to put himself through nowadays,” Warburton told the Daily Telegraph.
“Even now, I feel it. I had my hair cut this morning and after half an hour sat down I struggled to get up. If I drive for more than an hour, I have to stop and have a walk to loosen up.
“I wonder about arthritis when I get to 50, not just in my knees, but in my fingers. They’ve all been dislocated at some stage and I look at the swelling around the joints and think ‘blimey’.
“It’s just the price you pay and you regard it as normal at the time. Yet I guess it isn’t normal, is it.”