England No.8 Nick Easter has called time on his playing career as he moves into a coaching role with club side Harlequins.
The 37-year-old was something of a late bloomer, making his Test debut aged 28, but still managed to win 54 caps for his country over an eight-year international career.
That spell included 25 appearances in the RBS 6 Nations, helping England to the title in 2011, while he also became England’s oldest ever try-scorer in the 2015 clash with Italy.
He took part in a third World Cup in 2015, and his last game for England was the final pool game against Uruguay, in which he scored a hat-trick and was named man-of-the-match.
Easter continued to play for Harlequins last season, and was due to take on a player-coach role this campaign under new boss John Kingston.
New role
However he decided the time was right to hang up his boots and focus all his attention on his transition to coaching.
He said: “After accepting the opportunity of being a coach-player by John Kingston, I took some time to think about my career.
“I realised that whether I’m playing or coaching, there was no possible way that I would be able to give 100 per cent to both of my roles at the same time.
“I thought, why not grab the opportunity of becoming a coach with both hands, give it my best shot and feel privileged to be in a position to go out on my own terms after 12 great years as a player for Harlequins.
“I’m a few weeks into my role now and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Having had five weeks in the off-season to finalise it and four weeks now as a coach, I don’t regret my decision and I can’t wait for the new season to begin.”