Limerick’s Greg O’Shea has announced his retirement from Rugby at the age of 26

The Limerick native today announced his retirement from Rugby on his social media channels.

Citing reasons such as new future ventures, injuries and broadcast aspirations, O’Shea explained his decision in full on his YouTube page.

On his retirement announcement on his instagram page, O’Shea said,

“My life has always been focused around my rugby career, so it has been a really difficult decision for me to decide to retire from the game I love.”

O’Shea represented Ireland in the Rugby 7s at the Olympics in August, an integral part of the first Irish side to do so. He is arguably best known for winning the reality television series Love Island in 2019.

The former Crescent College student won a Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 2013 in addition to his previous two Junior Cups in 2010 and 2011. The former reality TV star also competed for Ireland at the 2011 European Youth Olympics 100m when he was 16 finishing in sixth place. However, this would be his last race as he decided to focus on rugby moving forward.

O’Shea played at fullback and on the wing for the Munster academy in 2013, just missing out on earning a place in the senior squad. This quickly led to his role with the sevens team as he initially played the 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series finishing second to Russia. Injuries derailed his plans for the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens qualifying tournament but ultimately made it on the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens squad going from strength to strength since.

In his full statement on instagram, O’Shea said,

My life has always been focused around my rugby career, so it has been a really difficult decision for me to decide to retire from the game I love. It just feels like the right time for me to close that chapter of my life, especially after reaching my goal of becoming an Olympian and with everything else I want to do outside of rugby.
I’ve made a YouTube video about how I came to this decision that’s just gone live now so be sure to check it out!

To say a massive thank you for supporting me over the last few years I’m going to do two giveaways :
1) My Olympic jersey, Olympic gear, and two pairs of Adidas boots (size 9uk)

2) My World Series jersey, training gear, and two pairs of Adidas boots (size 9uk)

If you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these prizes for yourself or somebody else then all you have to do is :
•Like this post
•Comment anything under this post
•Make sure you’re following me please

I’ll use a random generator to pick the winners next week and I’ll post the prizes anywhere in the world so best of luck !

Thanks again for supporting my journey so far, and I’m looking forward to sharing the next chapter of my life with you💚✌🏽

Watch the Limerick man explain his decision below.

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