James King: Injury forces Ospreys' King to retire at 30
- Published
James King won the first of 11 Wales caps against Japan in 2013
Versatile Ospreys and Wales forward James King has been forced to retire because of a shoulder injury at the age of 30.
King made 203 Ospreys appearances and won 11 caps for Wales.
He sustained the career-ending injury against Ulster in September 2019.
"My shoulder has not healed enough to continue playing rugby. I'm therefore announcing my retirement from professional rugby with immediate effect," said King.
"Rugby has given so much to me and I'm truly grateful for all of it. I've travelled all over the world, met some incredible people along the way and had experiences that will stay with me for a lifetime.
"I've been at the Ospreys for my whole professional career and the fans have been nothing but supportive even through tougher times.
"I would've liked to have thanked everybody who has helped me on this journey individually, but I'd probably run out of pages and that's just the rugby community."
In the statement, external announcing his retirement, King was described as "the epitome" of an Ospreys player by managing director Andrew Millward.
King is the current Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA) chairman.
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