TIME catches up with all of us but it is sad to see Mathew Tait retire with Achilles issues. He’s 33, so it’s no great surprise, but it’s poignant as he was the last member of England’s starting XV from the 2007 World Cup final defeat by South Africa still playing.
I remember him bursting onto the scene as an 18-year-old at Newcastle and that big hit he took off Gavin Henson during the 2005 Six Nations! But he bounced back stronger for it. Tait was a mecurial runner with a wicked step and the ability to play across the backline. If not for injury, he would have been ...