Former Highlander and Scottish flanker John Hardie will hang up his boots at the age of 32, but he plans to stay in Edinburgh and possibly work as a physical trainer.
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Hardie played 16 times for Scotland between 2015 and 2017 and he has confirmed that he will retire from all rugby sports after the Newcastle Falcons' English Premier League season.
The Southlander said he “won't miss the feeling of being killed by the road on Sunday morning”, but he is enjoying his career very much, “except for everything rugby has given me.”
“I think I can play for another year or two, but given the physical condition and the time it takes to recover between the two games, I think it's the right time to switch to a different career path,” he said. Said Hardie in response.
“It has to happen at some point, so it's best for me to decide. I think I play rugby really well, I just don't want to hang out or hold out too long.
Hardie said his style is to “go all out” on the pitch, but now it takes “almost a whole week” to recover from every game.
Born in Lumsden, Hardie has been playing professional rugby since 2007 and made his Southland debut shortly after leaving Southland Boys' High School.
Between 2007 and 2014, he made 65 appearances for the Bucks and 53 for the Highlanders, sharing the 2015 Super Rugby Championship victory (despite his injury in the final).
Hardie moved to the UK in 2015 and because of his Fife-born grandmother, he immediately qualified for Scotland.
His 16th and the final test came against Fiji in Suva in June 2017. He scored three goals for Scotland.
Hardie made headlines in Scotland in January 2017, when he was credited with tracking down and detaining a person suspected of shoplifting in Edinburgh's shopping center.
Later that same year, he was banned for three months by the Scottish Rugby Union in November 2017 for serious misconduct over alleged cocaine use, which became news again.
The former Highland Loose forward failed a drug test but is still facing disciplinary action.
Hardie then apologized for his actions. After being forced to suspend his job, he returned to the Six Nations Scotland team in 2018, even though he did not participate in the game.
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