Former England fly-half Flood announces retirement

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Rugby Union – Premiership – Bristol Bears v Newcastle Falcons – Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, Britain – January 1, 2021 Newcastle Falcons’ Toby Flood in action with Bristol Bears’ Peter McCabe and Joe Joyce Action Images/Andrew Couldridge

(Reuters) – Former England international and Newcastle Falcons fly-half Toby Flood has called time on his 18-year career and taken up a coaching role at the Premiership side.

Flood played won 60 test caps for England and featured at two World Cups, including the 2007 final loss to South Africa.

The 36-year-old played 141 times for the Falcons across two spells, either side of winning three Premiership titles with Leicester Tigers and a three-year stint with French giants Toulouse.

Flood will remain with the Falcons as a kicking and skills coach alongside studying for a master’s degree in business at Cambridge University.

“We had a conversation at the club about how best to move forward, and we decided to go down the route of me working as a kicking and skills coach,” Flood told the Falcons’ website https://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/news/story/flood-takes-up-coaching-role.

“It’s still good to be around the boys and nice to have that transfer within the club, and the other good thing is I’ve still got the university stuff going on in the background.

“We’ve got a load of good young players coming through at the Falcons, and if I can help facilitate them as a coach then I think that’s a positive result.”

Newcastle will host Harlequins in their 2021-22 Premiership season opener on Sept. 19.