Anthony Watson: England and Leicester Tiger winger on the pain that forced his retirement

He was restricted to just 23 appearances for the Tigers in his two-and-a-half years with the East Midlands club.

But in nine years and 126 games with Bath before that, he had established himself as one of the Premier League’s most dazzling and high-profile performers.

For England, his 23 tries in 56 appearances have seen him described as a “modern day great”.

“It’s hard to say I’ve dealt with it already because I haven’t,” Watson, who started his career at London Irish, said of his retirement.

“But what gives me peace of mind is knowing that I did everything I could do. That’s the way the cake crumbles, it’s not like I can go back and change what happened .

“You just have to move on – everyone’s career ends at some point, you can’t play forever. Mine was just a bit shorter than I would have liked.”

He said his retirement was not “a sob story” and would reflect on his time as a player with a smile and look to the future knowing he was physically protecting himself.

“I really enjoyed my career and played for a long time,” he said.

“I would have taken all the things I’ve done in my career and retired at 30 if you told me at 19.

“My body will carry a significant amount of deficiencies as a result of playing rugby, but I think stopping now allows me to do the basic things I need to do as a father, as a husband and as a son.”