RUGBY HIGHLIGHTS:Stuart Hooper: Bath captain retires with immediate effectBath captain Stuart Hooper has retired from rugby union with immediate effect because of a back injury.
The 34-year-old former Saracens and Leeds Carnegie lock has played 232 Premiership matches, including 138 for Bath, who he joined in 2008.
Hooper's 10th and final appearance of this season came in March's 21-19 win at home to Newcastle Falcons.
"You need to be 100% to play for Bath at this level, so my playing days are now over," he told BBC Radio Bristol.
"I did the injury in December against Leicester. I missed five or six weeks initially, got it back to a stage when I could play, but didn't get it right unfortunately.
"I implicitly trust their [the surgeon's] judgement. Now I'm very, very excited about the next challenges in life."
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