Alex Rieder forced to retire

Wasps can today confirm that Alex Rieder has been advised to retire from professional rugby on medical grounds.

The back-row has suffered lengthy knee and shoulder setbacks over the past two years and the catastrophic knee injury has meant the 28-year-old has been forced to hang up his boots.

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 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. 

Rieder’s career began in the Yorkshire Carnegie Academy, from where he had a spell on loan at National League Wharfedale during 2011/12, before joining Championship outfit Rotherham Titans where he worked under current Wasps Attack & Backs Coach Lee Blackett.

During the course of the 2014/15 season, Rieder was chosen as his club’s Player of the Season in addition to being selected in the Championship Dream Team after which he made the move south to join Wasps in 2015.

Rieder then capped a memorable Wasps Premiership debut by being named man-of-the-match in the Club’s first win at Northampton Saints' Franklin’s Gardens home in nearly a decade.

But two serious injuries wiped out most of his 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons - with 19 months separating two first-team appearances – although he scored against Saracens in September 2019 on a return to first-team action.

Rieder made 32 appearances for Wasps.