As soon as I signed for the French rugby union, it was just a huge relief, you know, because I was out of Sydney and out of sight doing what was best for myself.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When things could've gone really bad, rugby caught my interest and I really stuck with it. The sport brought me, maybe off the streets where we'd be fighting, into putting in a good effort in the rugby field where you're kind of rewarded for that rough behaviour instead of in trouble with the law.
Looking back, my whole life seems so surreal. I didn't just turn up on the doorstep playing rugby; I had to go through a whole lot of things to get there.
I still get a great buzz from rugby.
I'm a huge Rugby Union fan, which is a bit like American football - but tougher.
To make this announcement fills me with great sadness, but I know I have been blessed in so many ways to have experienced what I have with the England rugby team.
When I first went to rugby, I wanted it all; I just wanted it all, and you know, I thought it was just going to happen just like that, but I've come to learn that good things take time.
I tried to play rugby but was never very good.
For me now, I will continue to focus ever harder on my goal of being the very best I can be with Toulon Rugby Club and continue to embrace and enjoy wherever that path takes me.
Your name or what you've done on the rugby pitch is not going to carry you through for the rest of your life. I realise I'm going to have to eventually do something else, and that does frighten me a little bit.
I basically sat around unemployed in Sydney for three years straight, and the two things that saved me were the rugby league and my dog.