FORMER Scotland captain and scrum-half Greig Laidlaw has announced his retirement from rugby.
The 37-year-old Borderer who is the nephew of a nephew of former Scotland scrum half Roy Laidlaw began his career with Edinburgh before moving on to Gloucester and Clermont Auvergne. He currently plays for Japanese club Urayasu D-Rocks.
Laidlaw earned 76 caps, including 39 Test appearances as captain, and toured New Zealand with the 2017 British and Irish Lions.
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He retired from international rugby after the 2019 World Cup in Japan and now plans to start a coaching career.
“We intend as a family to stay in Japan a while longer, but it is here I will finally hang up my playing boots,” Laidlaw wrote on Instagram.
“It is time to take everything I have learnt from a playing career I could only have dreamt of and move on into coaching.
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“Throughout my playing career I have pushed myself, I have taken on new experiences, continuously learnt and immersed myself in different cultures.
“I have always enjoyed figuring out how to work as a team and how to get the best out of my team-mates, things I will take with me and continue to develop.
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“I believe I have developed a really strong skillset in performing under pressure and leadership – the two areas that I have learnt most about and that have always fascinated me.”
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