Wasps lock, England international, and the Lions tourist who peaked in his thirties
RugbySimon Shaw was told, many times, that his career was in decline. He kept refusing to agree.
A towering second row who came through at Bristol before settling at Wasps in 1997, Shaw became one of the cornerstones of the dominant Wasps era. Four Premiership titles, two Heineken Cups in 2004 and 2007, and a presence in the boiler room of the scrum that made Wasps almost unplayable on their day. He stood six feet eight, moved well for that size, and was as good at the technical part of the lock position as anyone playing.
The England career was oddly stop-start. He was in and around the World Cup squad in 2003, was written off by parts of the media more than once, and came back stronger each time. Then came the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when Shaw, already 35, was voted man of the match in the second Test in Pretoria after a performance that made even the most cynical pundits publicly rethink. He had toured with the Lions in 1997 and 2005 as well, making him one of the most decorated Lions tourists of his generation. He won 71 caps for England in total, the great majority of them after the age at which many locks are retired.
Post rugby he has worked as a coach, run his own business, and speaks engagingly about perseverance, the long view, and what it means to peak late in a career. The Lions story carries most of the weight on the circuit, and it earns it.
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