58 Wednesday May 25 2022 | the timesSportRugby union
5that because I always wanted to play
at No 15,” he says. “Everyone has
been telling me that I always seem
positive in every situation and I think
that was one of these times. I saw it as
a good thing.”
Another example was back in
October when Amos announced that
he was retiring at the end of the
season. He didn’t have to reveal his
intentions then but he sensed that he
might be selected for Wales’s autumn
internationals (he would surely have
been) and did not want to mislead the
head coach Wayne Pivac. It was a
selfless call. Many would have taken a
few extra caps first.
“I spoke to my parents and my
girlfriend [Meg],” he says. “I thought
that the game in Wales has been very
kind to me, so I thought the best
thing was to tell them early.”In truth the decision to retire, in
line with the end of his medical
degree, had been made long before.
“To be honest a lot of the boys
probably knew about it years ago,”
he says. “It’s always been my plan.
There are things you look at.
Obviously, there is a World Cup next
year. In the best-case scenario you get
a run of starts and then you’re in the
starting line-up for the World Cup,
but there is more I want to achieve
from a medical point of view as a
young man.
“When I played my first game for
the Dragons I had just started in the
sixth form at Monmouth and I was in
the process of applying for medicine.
Even at the medical school interviews
they asked that if push came to the
shove, what’s more important to you:
medicine or rugby? I said medicine
would take priority, which is
obviously what they wanted to hear,
and I probably would have told rugby
the opposite.
“I’ve been fortunate. Rugby has
been amazing, I’ve had some
incredible opportunities and
experienced some awesome things.
I’ve played rugby, whether through
the regions or Wales, on every
continent apart from Antarctica.
“Unless you’re Richie McCaw or
Alun Wyn Jones there’s always more
you could have achieved. I’ve had
injuries at inopportune times but I’ve
loved it and had a really good time.
I’m ready for the next chapter now.”
And that is already in full swing as
we speak — he is doing his final
placement to complete that degree
at Cardiff University’s School
of Medicine.
“Most people do a five or six-year
course,” he says. “At Cardiff about
a third do six because they do
another degree in the middle. I’ve
done nine years. Eight years of a
medical degree, that I’m finishing in a
month’s time, with a neuroscience
degree in the middle.
“I’m on the final month of
placements at the moment, at
University Hospital Llandough
[outside Cardiff]. I’m on an
endocrinology and diabetes ward. All
junior doctors do two years of
rotations, where you do four-month
rotations of six different things. I’ve
been in Cardiff for nine years now so
I fancy a bit of a change. I start at
King’s College, London in August and
will be there for two years. That’s
when you specialise after that.”
What does he want to do
eventually?
“I’m still not sure,” he says. “I’m
tending towards surgery of some sort.
My plan is to do another degree after
these two years and do a Masters.
Hopefully I will play some university
rugby then too.
“As I said, my mum is a GP, and my
dad is a forensic psychiatrist, which is
fascinating — his cases are very
interesting. I don’t really want to do
either of those jobs but they both still
love their jobs, which definitely has
persuaded me that I am going on the
right path.”Amos represented Wales in two World Cups, 2015 and
2019, but medicine is now his full-time focus, insetASAHI SHIMBUN/GETTY IMAGESbecause I
now get told
to triage the
most
important
case — and
there is a photo of me grabbing
my shoulder and Mike Brown [the
England full back] making sure I’m
OK, which was nice of him. That goes
back to what I said: generally people
in rugby are nice people. It gets pretty
physical on the pitch, but most are
good people at heart.”
Even when the Wales head coach
Warren Gatland appeared to criticise
his pace — “he’s quick but not
international wing quick,” he said in
2016 — Amos did not take offence.
“He was saying he didn’t see me as
a wing [Amos won 15 of his caps on
the wing] and I was quite happy withP
erhaps it was destined that
the medic’s rugby career
should end with an injury.
As Hallam Amos, the
Cardiff full back, was sitting
on the medical cart that took him
from the field at Musgrave Park,
Cork, at the end of last month, he saw
his career transition happening before
his very eyes. He knew his season,
and therefore his playing career, was
over courtesy of a hamstring injury
and he spied a member of the
Munster medical staff wearing a bib
with “Doc” on it.
“I remember that quite vividly as I
came off,” he says. “I remember
thinking, ‘My days on the field are
done now and that’s the area I’m
going to be in.’ ”
The significance of the moment
was duly acknowledged — his Cardiff
team-mates on the bench had formed
a tunnel for him as he was taken off.
In the medical room one of the
doctors went to grab a beer for him
before they sat down for a chat.
Amos had hoped to play three
more matches but instead departed
after only 30 minutes of Cardiff’s
42-21 defeat by Munster in the
United Rugby Championship, having
played superbly in that time. “I think
it was my first and only try-saving
tackle on [Simon] Zebo as well,” he
says with a laugh.
He is leaving the game at only 27
to pursue medicine full-time after
nine years spent juggling its
requirements with those of a
professional rugby player.
“One of the medical staff was a GP
and I told him that my mum is a GP.
We were talking and I was saying that
I was retiring and that I was going
into medicine,” Amos says. “We were‘I had always
planned to
give up rugby
for medicine’
reminiscing about their days as junior
doctors. They didn’t know my story at
all but it was a reminder of the fact
that the rugby family is a very nice
one to be part of.”
There have not been many nicer
people in the game than the affable
Amos, whose considered retirement is
a refreshing contrast to those who are
so constrained by the suffocating
demands of the professional game. He
is following a distinguished group of
Wales internationals who have
combined rugby and medicine —
including JPR Williams, Jack
Matthews, Gwyn Jones and Jamie
Roberts.
Making his debut for Wales aged
only 19 in 2013, Amos won 25 caps as
a powerful full back or wing with
excellent footwork, a meaty left boot
and an offloading game that was
sublime at times. He made his debut
for Newport
Gwent
Dragons, as
they were
then called,
aged 17
while still at
Monmouth
School and
after eight
years with
that region
he moved to
Cardiff Blues
— as they
were then
called — in- He
played in two World Cups in 2015 and
2019, and scored tries against New
Zealand, South Africa and Australia
during his Test career, which is no
mean feat.
He instantly picks out the 28-25
victory over England at Twickenham
in the 2015 World Cup as a highlight,
even if he was injured then too.
“I dislocated my shoulder trying to
hand off Owen Farrell,” he says.
“There were about five of us on the
floor at once. Liam [Williams] got
knocked out. All the physios were
attending to him — which was right
The Wales and Cardiff
full back Hallam Amos
tells Steve James why
he has no regrets about
ending his career at 27
A
20be
n
to
m
im
ca
ththere isaphotoofm
WorldCupsin 2015 d25
Amos played 25 times
for Wales, scoring
six tries against six
different opponentsFootball
Vanarama National League
Play-off quarter-final
Halifax (0) 1 Chesterfield(1) 2
Stenson 68
5,661Rowe 19
King 66Cricket
Second Test match
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Mirpur (second day of five): Sri Lanka, with
eight first-innings wickets in hand, are 222
runs behind Bangladesh
Bangladesh First Innings
(overnight 277-5)
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 175
†Litton Das c Mendis b Rajitha 141
Mosaddek Hossain c Dickwella b Rajitha 0
Taijul Islam c Dickwella b A M Fernando 15
Khaled Ahmed c Dickwella
b A M Fernando 0Ebadot Hossain run out 0
Extras (b 8, lb 4, w 3, nb 2) 17
Total (116.2 overs) 365
Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-6, 3-16, 4-24, 5-24, 6-296,
7-296, 8-345, 9-349.
Bowling Rajitha 28.2-7-64-5; A M Fernando
26-3-93-4; Jayawickrama 38-9-108-0;
Wanigamuni 14-0-53-0; De Silva 6-0-27-0;
Karunaratne 4-1-8-0.
Sri Lanka First Innings
B O P Fernando c Shanto b Chowdhury 57
*F D M Karunaratne not out 70
B K G Mendis lbw b Al Hasan 11
C A K Rajitha not out 0
Extras (lb 3, nb 2) 5
Total (2 wkts, 46 overs) 143
A D Mathews, D M de Silva, L D Chandimal,
†D P D N Dickwella, R T M Wanigamuni,
P Jayawickrama and A M Fernando to bat.
Fall of wickets 1-95, 2-139.
Bowling Ahmed 9-1-27-0; E Hossain 9-0-31-1;
Al Hasan 9-3-19-1; M Hossain 2-0-14-0; Islam
17-1-49-0.
Umpires J S Wilson (West Indies) and
Sharfuddoula Saikat (Bangladesh).Cycling
Giro d’Italia
Leading positions: 16th stage (Salò to
Aprica, 202km): 1, J Hirt (Cz, Intermarché–
Wanty–Gobert Matériaux) 5hr 40min 45sec;
2, T Arensman (Neth, Team DSM) at
7sec behind; 3, J Hindley (Aus, BORA-
hansgrohe) 1min 24sec; 4, R Carapaz
(Ec, INEOS Grenadiers); 5, A Valverde
(Sp, Movistar Team); 6, M Landa (Sp,
Bahrain Victorious); 7, L Kämna (Ger,
BORA-hansgrohe) 1:38; 8, J Almeida (Por, UAE
Team Emirates); 9, V Nibali (It, Astana-
Qazaqstan Team) 2:06 10, H Carthy (GB,
EF Education-EasyPost) 2:13. Overall
1, Carapaz 68:49:06; 2, Hindley 3; 3, J Almeida
44; 4, Landa 59; 5, Nibali 3:40; 6, D Pozzovivo
(It, Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux)
3:48; 7, P Bilbao (Sp, Bahrain Victorious)
3:51; 8, E Buchmann (Ger, BORA-hansgrohe)
4:45; 9, Hirt 7:42; 10, Valverde 9:04.
Leading British 14, Carthy 17:28; 21, S Yates
(Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 32:49; 52, B
Tulett (INEOS Grenadiers) 2:01:51.Tennis
French Open
Roland Garros, Paris: First round (seeds in
brackets): Men (2) D Medvedev bt F Bagnis
(Arg) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; R Gasquet (Fr) bt L Harris
(SA) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4; E Ruusuvuori (Fin) bt
U Humbert (Fr) 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2;
H Rune (Den) bt (14) D Shapovalov (Can) 6-3,
6-1, 7-6 (7-4); L Djere (Serbia) bt R Berankis
(Lit) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; A Bublik (Kaz) bt A
Rinderknech (Fr) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; D Goffin (Bel)
bt J Lehecka (Cz) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; H
Laaksonen (Switz) bt P Martínez (Sp) 2-6, 6-4,
6-4, 7-6 (7-1); (7) A Rublev bt Kwon Soon-woo
(S Kor) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; C Garin (Chile) bt
(30) T Paul (US) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; J Sousa (Por)
bt Tseng Chun-hsin (Taiwan) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 4-
6, 6-1, 6-4; (8) C Ruud (Nor) bt J-W Tsonga (Fr)
6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 7-6 (7-0); I Ivashka bt B
Paire (Fr) 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5; A Molcan (Slovakia)
bt F Coria (Arg) 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; (27) S Korda
(US) bt J Millman (Aus) 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6); F
Delbonis (Arg) bt A Mannarino (Fr) 6-1, 7-6
(7-1), 6-2; (32) L Sonego (It) bt P Gojowczyk
(Ger) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; (24) F Tiafoe (US) bt B Bonzi(Fr) 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); H Gaston (Fr) bt (19) A de
Minaur (Aus) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (10-4); (12)
H Hurkacz (Pol) bt G Zeppieri (It) 7-5, 6-2, 7-5;
(11) J Sinner (It) bt B Fratangelo (US) 6-3, 6-2,
6-3; M Cecchinato (It) bt P Andújar (Sp) 4-6,
4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-0; R Carballés Baena (Sp) bt O
Otte (Ger) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3; S Johnson
(US) bt J Vesely (Cz) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3,
6-2; Z Kolar (Cz) bt L Pouille (Fr) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5,
6-4. Women A Cornet (Fr) bt M Doi (Japan)
6-2, 6-0; (8) Karolina Pliskova (Cz) bt T
Andrianjafitrimo (Fr) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; (30) E
Alexandrova bt G Minnen (Bel) 7-5, 6-3; K
Volynets (US) bt V Golubic (Switz) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1;
A Krunic (Serbia) bt K Rakhimova 6-4, 6-3; (16)
E Rybakina (Kaz) bt A Rus (Neth) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2;
(13) J Ostapenko (Lat) bt L Bronzetti (It) 6-1,
6-4; D Collins (US) bt V Tomova (Bul) 6-0, 6-4;
I-C Begu (Rom) bt J Paolini (It) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6
(10-5); C Garcia (Fr) bt T Townsend (US) 6-3,
6-4; (22) M Keys (US) bt A Kalinskaya 6-3, 3-6,
6-4; S Rogers (US) bt T Martincova (Cz) 6-4,
6-3; Y Putintseva (Kaz) bt I Bara (Rom) 6-3, 6-1;
M Sherif (Egypt) bt M Kostyuk (Ukr) 6-3, 7-5; A
Kalinina (Ukr) bt H Baptiste (US) 5-2 ret; T
Zidansek (Slovenia) bt (9) C Liu (US) 6-2, 6-2;(3) P Badosa (Sp) bt F Ferro (Fr) 6-2, 6-0; (11)
J Pegula (US) bt Wang Qiang (China) 6-2, 6-4;
M Brengle (US) bt M Buzarnescu (Rom) 6-1,
6-2; (28) C Giorgi (It) bt Zhang Shuai (China)
3-6, 6-2, 6-2; K Juvan (Slovenia) bt O
Selekhmeteva 7-5, 7-6 (7-4); (20) D Kasatkina
bt R Sramkova (Slovakia) 6-2, 6-0; (19) S Halep
(Rom) bt N Schunk (Ger) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1; F
Contreras (Mex) bt P Udvardy (Hun) 7-6
(10-8), 6-3; (7) A Sabalenka bt C Paquet (Fr)
2-6, 6-3, 6-4.Results
Football
Europa Conference League final Roma v
Feyenoord (8.0, at Arena Kombetare,
Tirana).
Cricket
T20 Blast: North group: Headingley
Yorkshire v Worcestershire (6.30). South
group: Canterbury Kent v Somerset (7.0).Fixtures