Worsley forced to quit by chronic neck injury

World Cup winner calls it a day as Toulon come knocking for veteran Wasps team-mate Shaw

Joe Worsley spent eight months battling a neck injury (AP)

Simon Shaw may never stop playing rugby – at the ripe old sporting age of 38, he has agreed a short-term deal with the French moneybags club Toulon after turning his back on Wasps – but for one of his long-time colleagues at both club and international level, the end has come all too suddenly. Joe Worsley, one of the most effective defensive players of the professional era, has spent eight months trying to overcome a chronic neck problem. Yesterday, he decided enough was enough and announced his retirement.

"I have been following medical and rehab advice but it hasn't worked," the 34-year-old flanker said. "After restarting with England during the World Cup camp in the summer, it was obvious I couldn't continue. My life as a rugby player started with the Welwyn Garden City under-nines and finished in an England training session. I want to thank everyone who helped me on that path. I'm proud of what I achieved, and proud of how I played the game."

Worsley certainly played in the right spirit: blessed with the positional flexibility to operate in all three back-row positions, he was both intensely physical and scrupulously fair-minded in his approach to the game. A one-club man at the top level, he made more than 300 appearances for Wasps over the best part of two decades and won almost 80 caps for his country – frequently off the bench, but every one of them hard-earned.

There was a particularly heartfelt tribute from Damian Hopley, the chief executive of the Rugby Players' Association. "It is such sad news," he said. "We always sensed that Joe had all the necessary attributes, including the humility, to become an outstanding international player."

Shaw, who shared two World Cup campaigns with Worsley and won Heineken Cup titles alongside him, carries on regardless. Named as recently as a fortnight ago in Wasps' squad for this season's European campaign – the Londoners, playing in the second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup, thought he would be available to them for another season – he was the subject of an official announcement from Toulon, who have signed him until the end of term and will play him alongside Jonny Wilkinson. They also confirmed the arrival of the brilliant Wallaby midfielder Matt Giteau.

Down in the southern hemisphere, there was a grim bulletin from New Zealand concerning the latest in a series of alcohol-linked incidents involving the World Cup-winning wing Zac Guildford and some truly tragic news from South Africa, where the former Test flanker Solly Tyibilika, who made eight appearances for the Springboks between 2004 and 2006, was reported to have been shot dead in the Cape Town township of Nyanga.

"Solly was a trailblazer among black African Springboks – his emergence was a demonstration of what can be achieved when talent is combined with opportunity," said Oregan Hoskins, the South African Rugby Union president.

Guildford issued a public apology after details emerged of an attack in a bar in the Cook Islands. "I have no clear recollection of events," said the All Black, who was said to have walked into the hostelry naked and bleeding and thrown punches at two customers. "But there is no doubt that my behaviour was unacceptable... it's obvious I need help. I need to sort myself out."