The End Of An Era
"He has been such an important team man. He leads physically from the front and he's got a great attitude. When you think what he's done, what he's achieved it's fantastic."
These are the complementary words of Ian McGeechan talking about the recently retired Danny Grewcock. Mcgeechan first got to know the former Saracens lock on the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2005, even going as far as calling him 'the perfect rugby player'.
But after an impressive 15 years in the game playing for the Lions, England, Barkers Butts, Coventry, Saracens and Bath the veteran felt it was the end as he announced his retirement earlier this year, with the end of the Premiership season his retirement date. The 38-year-old made his final appearance in a glittering professional career last weekend as he helped Bath to a crushing 42-12 won over the Newcastle Falcons.
Grewcock has certainly made a big impact in his career and will surely be remembered as one of the greats. Having made his England debut on the tour of Argentina, the Bath legend went on to make 69 appearances for his country.
This included being selected in Clive Woodward's winning World Cup squad in 2003, but unfortunately for Grewcock a broken hand in the first fixture ruled him out and he was forced to return home. After only making a small contribution, the former England man still picked up a World Cup winners medal although he admitted that he felt he didn't deserve it as much as the others.
Not only did Grewcock become a star for his country, he also started to become a major player for the Lions. The powerhouse was selected for two tours, the first to Australia in 2001 where he played in all three tests alongside Martin Johnson and the second four years later against New Zealand.
Add to that 226 appearances for Bath including helping them to a fifth place finish this season, with the added respect of going down as one of the clubs legends. Grewcock has already agreed to take a role on at the club, which is expected to be keeping an eye on future talent whilst coaching in the academy.
Although his career seems to be one of amazing commitment and success it wasn't all that way for various other reasons. Grewcock built up the reputation of being a bit of a 'bad boy' after some of his antics on the field of play. A sending off against New Zealand in 1998 at Dunedin, another one for punching Laurence Dallaglio during a European final and a third for stamping on former England player Kyran bracken. Still nonetheless he was always one of the most popular players in the dressing room, as many still knew he played for the team above all else.
As the game became faster and more demanding, Grewcock started to feel the strain and even though he could still do a job he was prepared to let it go. He was glad that it wasn't injury that forced him out and that he come to make his decision when he felt like it needed to be made.
"I benefited from not getting chucked in too soon when I was young so my body didn't get subjected to all those stresses and strains too early,"said Grewcock.
He added: "Every Christmas for the last few years, I've had to weigh up whether I wanted to go on, and also figure if I was going to get offered a new contract. This year, I know that was it. It was time to go. I've been very privileged.
Grewcock will be hugely missed by the Bath faithful and they will now be calling on him to bring through some fresh talent as a replacement. Only time will tell if this happens but for now he should be remembered as a star, which his coach at Bath Steve Meehan agreed with.
He said: "Danny has been a pleasure to work with, he has always given his all, whether that is during a game, in training, or in other activities away from the pitch."
"Those are qualities that every player should have and I don't doubt that he will go on to be successful in his new role at the club."
