The man with a blue cap and golden touch - Tipuric

Justin Tipuric has retired from Test rugby just months before the World Cup

Quiet, unassuming... brilliant.

From the days of hopping over his parents' back fence to play for the local village side, all the way to the British & Irish Lions, he has shone.

However, he always insisted he would stop when he no longer played with a smile on his face, and so the time has come after he announced his retirement from international rugby.

Tipuric, pronounced with a 'ch' at the end in the language of his Croatian grandfather Dragotin, grew up in Trebanos, where he was the third generation of the family to play for the Swansea valley side.

While his career blossomed, he never forgot his roots - hence the colour of that distinctive 'Trebanos blue' scrum cap.

Sports mad, he enjoyed cricket, football, tennis and rugby equally and would display the skills honed from them all after opting for the oval ball.

A natural on the rugby sevens circuit with Wales, he developed with Ospreys, learning from the likes of former All Black Marty Holah before breaking through for club and country.

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"He was always very unassuming. He didn't hit the ground running and didn't look like a professional rugby player at the start," recalled former Ospreys head coach Sean Holley.

"At a management meeting, [chief executive] Andrew Hore said that Tipuric wouldn't make it. In fact he added that he would eat two raw eggs if Tipuric played.

"But we liked what we saw so we picked him to play Bath in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. Justin scored a try and was man of the match. So on the following Monday I cracked two eggs on a plate in the canteen for Andrew.

"We always knew his skillset would lend itself to being a quality player but as he matured physically he would become a shoo-in.

"There were no doubts about his abilities. His nous for the game and ability to read the play and support players was amazing."

Tipuric's Test debut came against Argentina in the summer of 2011, though he was too late to break into the World Cup squad later that year.

However in Warren Gatland's squad, which was full of size and brute force, Tipuric would go on to provide the velvet glove to the iron fist.

'Unbelievable talent'

Pressure to accommodate Tipuric's skills meant captain Sam Warburton was often forced across into the number six jersey. Tipuric was, perhaps, the more natural seven. A ball player as well as a ball winner, he was a fly-half in a forward's disguise.

"He was one of the most talented players to play the modern game," said his former Ospreys and Wales team-mate James Hook.

"He's the only forward I know who could have played professionally as a back."

Tipuric would often "embarrass" the backs with his kicking prowess, says James Hook

Hook added: "After Wales training sessions, myself, Dan Biggar, Rhys Priestland or Stephen Jones would be taking a few kicks and Tips and Taulepe Faletau often came across for a go.

"They would start spiralling kicks and knocking over goals from the touchline so easily that we would tell them to get back down the other end with the forwards because they were embarrassing us. Tips was just unbelievably talented."

Tipuric went on to with 93 caps for Wales, winning Six Nations titles in 2012, 2013, 2019 and 2021, and was selected for three successive Lions tours.

Captaincy for both Ospreys and Wales better suited Tipuric on the field than off it. His peers listened to every word, though he was a reluctant speaker to media or press.

Inevitably there have been injuries along the way. Surgery after he suffered a broken bone in his foot against Saracens in April was the latest the contend with and looks to have been the final straw.

He was nominated for European player of the year this season but, for Wales, the smile has waned and the prospect of dragging his body through Gatland's notoriously brutal pre-World Cup camps appears just too much.

"Justin has had a few injuries that may have taken their toll. He was still young enough to bounce back but certainly didn't look himself during the Six Nations," added Holley.

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Welsh Rugby Union chairman Ieuan Evans perhaps best summed up the tributes to the quiet man who let his rugby do the talking.

"We thank Justin for his commitment to both Wales and the Lions, but also his sublime skills, athleticism and dynamism and for his unrelenting ability to do exactly the right thing on a rugby pitch in any given situation," he said.

"It has been a privilege for all of us to be able to watch him play."