Former Australian rugby sevens captain James Stannard has announced his retirement three months after a one-punch attack that robbed him of a third Commonwealth Games appearance.
‘‘It is with great sadness that I’m announcing my forced retirement from rugby as a player due to head injuries I recently suffered,’’ the 35-year-old posted on Saturday on Instagram.
‘‘It has been my greatest honour and privilege to have been able to pull on the "Green and Gold’’ and represent my country beside my mates, men I count as brothers over the past decade or so.
‘‘The international rugby family have been so supportive and I’m humbled and thankful.’’
Stannard was discharged from hospital in April after the allegedly unprovoked Good Friday assault outside a Coogee kebab shop that left him with a fractured skull and forced his withdrawal from the Gold Coast Games.
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