Scotland and Edinburgh prop Alasdair Dickinson has announced his decision to end his playing career to take up a coaching role with the Scottish Rugby Academy.
The 34-year-old had an extremely successful career at international level winning 58 Scotland caps, the last of which came in a 26-13 victory over Japan in June 2016.
Dickinson made his Test debut for Scotland in September 2007 against New Zealand at Murrayfield with his first Six Nations appearance coming the following year against England.
Between 2007 and 2016, he made 25 appearances for Scotland in the Championship and featured in three Rugby World Cup campaigns (2007, 2011 and 2015).
But the final years of his playing career were plagued by hamstring, shoulder and foot injuries.
“My body just couldn’t keep up with the demands of the professional game and I believe it’s now a good time to call it a day,” he said.
“It’s the natural progression to transition from playing to coaching.”
Alongside his international achievements, the 6ft 1in, 17st 6lb loosehead prop was a hugely influential player at club level enjoying spells with Gloucester Rugby, Sale Sharks and Edinburgh.
Born in Dundee, he began has senior career at Edinburgh in 2004 and went on to make 55 appearances for the club before joining English Premiership side Gloucester for the 2007-08 season.
After impressing in his first year, Dickinson went on to make 72 appearances for the Cherry and Whites in his four-year spell at Kingsholm.
Dickinson moved to Sale Sharks for the 2011-12 season but decided to re-join Edinburgh in 2013 after just two years in Manchester, making 120 appearances for Edinburgh during his two spells.
Now, the former Scotland will be using his extensive expertise to coach Scotland’s most promising young talents, as he specialises in the scrum and contact area coaching.
“I’ve been really fortunate to have been offered this role to help develop the youngsters coming through, from school-age, into the academy and hopefully into the pro teams,” he added.
“It’ll certainly challenge me as being a player is completely different from being a coach. I can’t wait to get started and it’s definitely going to be a great test of my character.”
