PunchingTadpole
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Former Welsh rugby union captain Michael Owen has retired from the sport due to injury.
Owen, 29, told BBC Sport Wales that a persistent knee problem had forced him to put a premature end to his career.
The Saracens player won 41 caps for Wales and took over the captaincy midway through their 2005 Grand Slam season following an injury to Gareth Thomas.
His last game for the national team came in Wales' 2007 World Cup defeat by Fiji that knocked them out of the tournament.
After a move to Saracens at the start of the 2008-09 season, Owen looked to make a return to the international side but was hindered in his ambition by recurring injuries.
He suffered the first of a long line of knee injuries on January 1st, 2009 and despite various knee physio treatments, has never fully recovered.
The player's final injury setback came in October last year while playing for Saracens against Toulon in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Owen, 29, told BBC Sport Wales that a persistent knee problem had forced him to put a premature end to his career.
The Saracens player won 41 caps for Wales and took over the captaincy midway through their 2005 Grand Slam season following an injury to Gareth Thomas.
His last game for the national team came in Wales' 2007 World Cup defeat by Fiji that knocked them out of the tournament.
After a move to Saracens at the start of the 2008-09 season, Owen looked to make a return to the international side but was hindered in his ambition by recurring injuries.
He suffered the first of a long line of knee injuries on January 1st, 2009 and despite various knee physio treatments, has never fully recovered.
The player's final injury setback came in October last year while playing for Saracens against Toulon in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
