A celebration of the career of Gloucester Rugby star Charlie Sharples took place at Kingsholm last night with more than 100 club members, sponsors and fellow players in attendance.

Charlie joined the Cherry and Whites rugby academy aged 14 and made his first team debut in 2007, going on to record 275 appearances for Gloucester Rugby.

After 15 years of service, he has finally called time on his illustrious career after dislocating his shoulder. His record speaks for itself - he scored 91 times and 455 points and was capped four times by England.

During an often humorous look at his playing career, Charlie took part in a Q&A with Tim Thurston, MD of Team-i. They were joined on stage by current Gloucester legend Billy Twelvetrees as the pair spoke about their relationship as players and friends. 

Talking to Punchline editor Mark Owen last night, Charlie said: "This is just a celebration of my career, if you like, and we're having a chat about the memories, the highs and the lows to give me a bit of closure on my retirement. Maybe this is therapy!"

Charlie has recently started working for Cheltenham-based Gemini Financial Planning.

He said: "I'm a couple of weeks into it and it's all going well. They still let me back in here so it's nice to be welcomed back with open arms. I'm finding my feet with my transition.

"I'm working full time. I started going in a day a week, then two days a week, three days a week as I was doing my rehab while I was still contracted to Gloucester which was very accommodating of them. It was nice to gradually phase myself out of the club."

As for his new career, Charlie said: "It's all good. It's a very regulated industry with lots of compliance processes. I'm trying to reach out and get some clients and expand my network but I'm enjoying it so far."