Charlie Sharples: Gloucester winger retires after shoulder injury

Charlie Sharples is one of Gloucester's most capped players, with 275 appearances for the club

Gloucester winger Charlie Sharples has retired from rugby union with immediate effect, ending a 15-year career.

Sharples, 32, joined the Cherry and Whites' academy aged 14 and made his first-team debut in 2007, going on to record 275 appearances for the club.

Injury meant he missed most of last season, his last game coming in the European Champions Cup in April 2021.

He had planned to retire at the end of this season, but a shoulder injury ruled him out again this year.

"I wanted to stay as injury free as possible and just enjoy being on the pitch because I knew that it was coming to an end at the end of the season, I was ready to finish in July. I'd got my head round doing that," Sharples said.

"When I dislocated my shoulder unfortunately the prognosis was that I needed surgery and that was going to keep me out for most of the season really.

"It was quite a difficult time and it did put me into a bit of a spin because I felt like the rugby had been taken away from me because I wasn't ready to finish at that moment, I wanted to finish in July," he continued.

"My body has not been kind to me the last couple of years and I just had to listen to it and think it was the right time."

Sharples was capped four times by England, between 2011 and 2012, and scored two tries against Fiji during the autumn internationals in 2011.

For Gloucester he scored 91 tries and 455 points, and was part of the team that won the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2011 and the Challenge Cup trophy in 2015.

"I'm not going to be a stranger. This is my home and I'll always support the club and I want to stay involved, albeit in a different capacity," Sharples said.