Injury forces Connacht centre to retire

Connacht Centre Keith Matthews has been forced to retire from the sport through injury.

The 29-year-old damaged his Achilles during the captain's run ahead of their game with Cardiff last season and has not recovered sufficiently.

Matthews played seven times for the Irish wolfhounds and featured 100 times for his province.

Matthews said: "I had never really thought I'd be a professional rugby player, I went through schools and didn't make the Munster Schools team so never really thought of it as a career. It wasn't until I was in first year college in UL studying Computer Engineering that I made the Irish U19's and pushed on from there, playing with Munster's U21's for two years and with Ireland U21 in my final year of college. After that I was in the Irish Academy and it was then that I started thinking there might be a future in it and I got a development contract with Munster."

"When I finished college Brads (Michael Bradley) offered me a spot in Connacht and I jumped at the opportunity to play regularly. When I first came to Connacht there were only a couple of guys that are still involved here now such as John Muldoon and Michael Swift.

"Connacht have come on leaps and bounds in the last seven seasons, it's brilliant to see, all the facilities are second to none and to have everything on one site is great. There's been loads of memorable moments down through the years but beating Munster here in the Sportsground in '07 stands out as one of the best. Captaining Connacht last Christmas was another huge honour for me, the fact that it was against Munster made it even better."

The Limerick native said he is going to keep his options open.

Matthews said: "I have a couple of months to decide where to go next and what to do. I have got my Computer Engineering degree from the University of Limerick behind me and I've got my QFA (Qualified Financial Advisor) exams now as well so that's a route I may take. I'm also looking into going back to college next year, maybe to do a post-grad in Chartered Accountancy so we'll see what happens."

"The family are living here with me and though we've always planned to move back to Limerick at some stage I don't think we're ready to leave Galway just yet. We've been living here for seven years and it's a great city, great people. I would definitely consider myself a Connacht-man now, so even if we do move I'll always support Connacht."

"I've always enjoyed coaching as well so no matter what I do I'm sure I'll end up coaching at some level. I have completed the level 2 Assistant course have been involved with Monivea for the last couple of years, we won the Connacht Junior league the year before last and were beaten by Crosshaven in the All-Ireland Junior Cup last year so even though I've taken a step back since my injury I still follow them very closely

Matthews said it has taken time to get his round life without rugby.

He said: "It's heartbreaking being told your rugby career is over and though it's a bit daunting thinking of a life without rugby in it as one chapter closes another opens so I'll keep myself busy and just get on with it

"It'll be hard not playing anymore, standing in the terraces watching the guys play against Toulouse in the Heineken Cup and knowing I'll never hear the roar of the crowd after a good break or a good tackle. That was one of things that really hit home and that was pretty tough but I have no regrets at all. I like to think that every time I pulled on the green jersey I gave it my best, yeah I made mistakes, I'm only human but I always gave it 100%."

"I'm delighted to have reached 100 caps for the Province, it's a big milestone and it's great to know I'm up there on the 100 Wall, it's something I'm very proud of. I've had seven great seasons with the club and enjoyed every single one of them and I would like to say a huge thank you to all the players, coaches, staff and medical personnel who I've worked with over the years, especially the physio's who've helped me in the last seven months. I'd also like to thank all the Connacht fans and supporters for all the great memories."