The Bull Will Rage No More: Phil Vickery Leaves a Huge Hole to Fill

THE Bull will rage no more. Phil Vickery, and England World Cup winner in 2003, finally bowed out of rugby today, aged 34, with one of the most emotional farewell speeches of modern times.

The Wasps prop and former England captain said from the Wasps training ground in west London: “I’ve had a difficult few weeks. It became apparent I had a neck problem and I was told it was best to hang up my boots.

“I came through shingles and a few other problems but it became apparent there was a little bit more there.”

The tears weren’t far away as the Raging Bull ended his 15-year career with a mumbled: “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m disappointed. But looking forward to the future and proud of what I’ve achieved.

“I’ve been talking about things. I’ve got a mixed bag of everything. People are proud but that makes it worse. But I look back on good memories. I’m churned up inside, lying in bed at night thinking about all the people.

“But I think I’ve made the right decision. I’ve got to move on.”

A veteran of four career-threatening neck operations, Vickery groans: “They’ve said enough’s enough. And that’s defeat. I don’t like losing. But nobody can question my desire, I still do dearly want to play the game, sat here right now.

“It’s a decision we’ve made. I can’t really do any more than that.”

Vickery revealed he was desperate to play in a fourth World Cup in New Zealand next year after six months of working his way back to fitness. He said: “I spent the whole pre-season as strong as I’ve been for a long time. To come back in to the season and for this to happen is a bit of a tough one.

“But I can look back and say I’ve done my very best. All I can do. I can put hand on hear, look myself in the mirror and say that. I can live with that.”

Wasps boss Tony Hanks said: “Everyone’s really disappointed. Phil’s a big part of our squad. He’s one of the best tightheads around. It’s the right decision for Phil, it’s a good time to celebrate what he’s done.”

Vickery earned 73 England caps and made five Test appearances for the Lions – his last international appearance was for the British and Irish outfit in their third Test victory over South Africa at Ellis Park in the summer of 2009. That came a fortnight after he had been muscled out of the scrum repeatedly by South African prop Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira, leading to premature reports of the Bull's demise.

Vickery's final club outing was on September 25 against Gloucester, where he spent 11 years after moving from his home in Cornwall.

Vickery featured in every game of the 2003 World Cup triumph in Australia, scoring his first Test try against Samoa and starting the final against the hosts in Sydney.

His career looked over in 2006 when he left Gloucester after being told he could not play on after neck problems. But the Wasps medical team disagreed and Vickery was able to eke out another four years of rugby at the top level, including a Heineken Cup win in 2007 followed by his epic captaining of England to the World Cup final in France, where they lost to South Africa.

Vickery is now likely to play an ambassadorial role for Wasps, though his experience in the dark arts of the scrum will surely lead to offers of coaching roles around the world.a

Breaking News: Fabio Capello Confirms He'll Quit After Euro 2012

MIDNIGHT in England and Sky News have just rung. They're sending a camera crew to the wilderness of Buckinghamshire to gauge my response to the breaking news: Fabio Capello has just announced he will DEFINITELY step down after the 2012 European Championship in Poland and the Ukraine.

It's no surprise. He was always scheduled to leave after four years. But there were those, before the World Cup, who thought he may stay on longer. Having being roundly blamed for England's failure in South Africa, he's made up his mind.

Would you stick with a nation which, as he said last week before the opening Euro 2012 qualifiers, "has turned me from a god into a monster"?

The Generalissimo, a vastly successful club manager in Italy and Spain, revived England on his arrival after the departure of the shockingly poor Steve McClaren.

Though he has yet to pick up the niceties of the language, he has revived England once more after the World Cup debacle with those rousing Group H wins over Bulgaria and Switzerland.

And he managed the Friday night 4-0 thrashing of the Bulgars at Wembley plus Tuesday's 3-1 triumph in Basel without skipper Rio Ferdinand and the once-popular Chelsea duo of John Terry and Frank Lampard.

Victory over tiny Montenegro at Wembley next month would just about seal qualification with two years to go before the finals, given the minnows' shock wins over Wales and Bulgaria.

Strange that. If you'd gone with the popular opinion, Capello would have been forced out after the 4-1 defeat against Germany in Bloemfontein barely two months ago.

But, as I've said all along, Capello is the best in the business. Our World Cup qualifying was little short of miraculous. It's not his fault half the England team were suffering domestic turmoil during the finals.

John Terry was stripped of the captaincy before the tournament even began for his affair with the partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge's child. Frank Lampard and Elen Rives split acrimoniously and he was starting out in a relationship with television host Christine Bleakley.

And amid rumours and rifts in Rustenburg, Peter Crouch and Wayne Rooney have been exposed for seeing prostitutes over the past three weeks. Both scandals happened before the World Cup and were hanging over the squad.

Two further injunctions remain. Two more juicy scandals for the tabloids. I know who they involve but cannot p;rint it here, though I have hinted at it in the past. The Bafokeng Royal Sports Campus was not a happy camp in June and July. They even had their underwear stolen when they went off to bore us to death against Algeria in Cape Town.

But, knowing the players were in turmoil on tour and incapable of performing, the experts decided to blame Capello. Heavily. As they do.

So it's little wonder that the 64-year-old Italian, when asked if he would quit after 2012, confirmed: "Absolutely. Yes."

He added: "We have to qualify first of course but after that I will be too old - I want to enjoy my life as a pensioner."

He need hardly worry about qualification. Wales, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Spanish conquerors Switzerland are incapable of stopping the Capello band wagon, which rolled along so smoothly without the big guns, Rio, Terry and Lamps.

I say good on you Fabio. Win Euro 2012 and get out. You know you can do it. I believe you can do it, with the fresh squad you used over the past week. But do the rest of them? And how many more stars will be shot down in flames by the tabloids?