Curtain set to come down on Cullen’s career, says manager

MUNSTER’S Christian Cullen is set to announce his retirement from all levels of rugby.

Cullen signed with the European champions in 2003, but has been dogged by injury during his time here.

Munster are not going to offer Cullen an extension and there is a massive disincentive for him to come back and take up an NPC contract.

“He’s contemplating what he’s going to do at the end of the year,” his personal manager Dave Monnery said yesterday, “but it is very unlikely that he will come back to New Zealand and play.”

There is a sound financial reason bolstering his case for retirement, even though at the age of 31 he could have another two or three years left in the game at a high level.

The Irish Government has tax relief incentives for sportspeople who retire from their sport in Ireland, enabling them to claim a rebate of 40% of all tax they paid there over a maximum 10-year period.

“If he (Cullen) plays anywhere else he waives all rights to those incentives,” Monnery said.

Cullen’s initial three-year contract was estimated at €250,000 a year, of which Cullen would have been paying close to €100,000 in tax each year. The one-year extension he signed last year was not believed to have been as lucrative, but it is thought Cullen will still be entitled to a six-figure rebate.

Even if he were to pick up a big NPC contract it would not be worth it as Cullen would have to pay back his rebate.

Even taking money out of the equation, retirement has been on the cards for Cullen for some time.

Monnery said Cullen was close to quitting when the three-year deal ran out, but was convinced to come back for one more year.

A succession of injuries, most notably to his knee and shoulder, has robbed Cullen of some of his magic and he only sporadically showed the Munster faithful the skills that marked him as the finest fullback of his generation.

Monnery said that he was still talking to Munster but in all likelihood Cullen will retire. “If I was a betting man I’d say he’ll pack it in at the end of the year,” Monnery said.

That will draw the curtain on the career of perhaps the greatest try-scoring machine in rugby. For the All Blacks he scored a record 46 tries in 58 tests and he is third on the list of tries scored in Super rugby with 56 from 85 games, behind Doug Howlett and Joe Roff.

At his peak, between 1996 and 2001, Cullen was the most dangerous broken-field runner the game had seen and he had an unparalleled ability to score tries from long distance, the best of which was a 70-metre effort against Australia at Carisbrook in 1997.

LONDON IRISH winger Justin Bishop is to take up a player-coach role with National League One club Doncaster next season.

The 32-year-old, who won 25 caps for Ireland, has been with Irish throughout rugby union’s professional era.

Exiles rugby director Brian Smith said: “Justin is one of the best professionals I have ever known and worked with.

“He is London Irish through and through, and he will be missed as he leaves to develop the next stage of his career.”