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Alex Rieder has become the third Wasps player in under two years to retire on medical grounds.

The 28-year-old follows in the footsteps of former team-mates Sam Jones and Marcus Garratt, whose professional rugby playing career retirements were announced in March 2018 and September 2019 respectively.

Rieder suffered a catastrophic knee injury playing against Exeter Chiefs in February 2018. Some 400 days later he made his return to action for Wasps A during the tail end of the 2018/19 season.

His senior comeback followed in the Premiership Cup encounter with Saracens at the Ricoh Arena in September. 83 weeks after he last appeared in a front-line game and 734 days after his previous senior start for the club, Rieder was a try scorer in a 50-28 home defeat.

Rieder spoke post match about a ' demon being off his back' after making his playing return, but he hasn't featured in a 23-man Wasps squad since. Director of rugby Dai Young said three weeks ago that Rieder was not training due to his knee swelling up and causing 'real problems'.

Worst fears were confirmed today (Thursday) when Wasps officially announced Rieder's professional rugby playing career was over.

Achieved my dream

In a statement, he said: "I’m obviously gutted that I have to retire from playing the game I love.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster with plenty of highs and lows over the past few years.

(Image: Richard Lane Photography)

“I’d like to thank everyone at the club for their support throughout. I’ve made some fantastic lifelong friends and will always keep an eye on the boys’ progress in the future.

“I would like to also thank the Wasps fans who couldn’t be more passionate and welcoming, and also to my partner Victoria, family and friends, who without their support I could never have achieved my dream of playing for my dream club.”

Tremendous competitor

Despite being unable to continue playing professional rugby, this week Rieder has undergone an operation on his knee to improve his standard of living.

Wasps boss Young paid tribute to the back row he signed from the Championship before selecting him 32 times for the Black and Golds. He said: “It’s a terrible shame that Alex hasn’t been able to recover from his knee injury as he is a tremendous competitor and has been great when he’s put on the Wasps shirt.

“We’d like to place on record our thanks to Alex for his services to the club and we all wish him the best moving forward.”

The injury that ultimately ended Rieder's career

Rieder had missed 154 days of action due to shoulder injury when he arrived from the bench in the second-half against Exeter Chiefs at the Ricoh Arena in February 2018. Just six minutes later, he was carrying the ball into contact when he suffered his injury that included damage to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), lateral collateral ligament (LCL) along with tears and damage to the popliteus and meniscus.

He recalled the incident in April 2019 during an extended interview with CoventryLive.

"I made a line break. I got cut down, I sensed something was wrong. I didn't feel any pain. I looked down and my leg was straight but my knee is facing the touchline. You just go into a bit of shock, tell yourself it's a dream."

During that interview, the former Rotheram Titans player also revealed he had suffered mental health issues during his time out injured and during rehabilitation.

Rieder said: "I was thinking 'what is there to do with life if I can't walk, can't run, what quality of life are you going to have?' In your head you're so broken down. I was sat in an apartment on my own just sobbing. I've never felt so low in my life."

Ongoing struggles

Having made his playing return for Wasps A at that point, he did concede until he returned in the Premiership for Wasps, that all his demons will not be gone.

He said in April: "I am still struggling in my head and game wise. Why am I not the player I was? I want to go straight back there and be the same player and make the line breaks but it's not like that. I talk to the lads about it.

(Image: Richard Lane Photography)

"I almost wish I understood this and had something in place when I was in a happier place. I'd spent 25 years of my life thinking the world was sunny and rosy and nothing bad was ever going to happen to me. I've been very lucky with my life.

"Until I get that [Premiership minutes], in my head I still won't have everything. All the demons won't be gone."

Support with transition

Following his most recent Wasps appearance, that 53-minute showing in September, he did say he had got 'the demon off my back'. He said post match: "It was great to be back out there. It's a bit sour because I would've preferred to have had the win over anything else but it was good just to be back out with the lads after a good pre-season, and you know, get the demon off my back."

Wasps and the Rugby Players Association (The RPA) will be helping Rieder post-operation and will be supporting his transition to life post-rugby before he leaves the club at the end of January.

The Rieder announcement follows second row Garratt's retirement being confirmed in September, after suffering a knee injury in training in May 2018. Flanker Jones was forced to call it a day in March 2018 after being unable to recover from injuries he picked up while on an England training camp.