Australian Rugby
Staniforth hangs up his boots
ESPNscrum Staff
November 3, 2010
Western Force winger Scott Staniforth looks to pass, Western Force v Bulls, Super 14, Subiaco Oval, Perth, Australia., April 4, 2008
Scott Staniforth has been forced to retire by a neck injury © Getty Images
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Former Wallaby Scott Staniforth has been forced to retire due to a neck injury.

The 32-year-old winger suffered the injury while playing for the Western Force against the Lions in May and while he was able to make a return in Perth's grade competition over the summer, further damage sustained in training has forced him to call time on a 13-year career.

Staniforth rose to prominence with the Waratahs and also enjoyed a spell in England with London Irish. He played 12 Tests for Australia between 1999 and 2007, winning his debut cap against the USA at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

"I guess it's not the way you want to finish but I feel as though I've had a pretty good run at it and been lucky enough to have had a really enjoyable last 13 years," Staniforth said."I would have loved to have got my 50 games for the Force and still felt I had a few little goals left to achieve.

"The 1999 World Cup was definitely a highlight and it was great to have been right there during the transformation of the game. I started out playing alongside the likes of Phil Kearns and Tim Horan and finished off with emerging stars in David Pocock and James O'Connor to name a few.

"I don't know how I would have felt if there was some grey area in terms of if I could go on or not and I guess when the decision was taken out of my hands by the specialists it brought that closure pretty quickly."

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