Harlequins No 8 Nick Easter has announced his retirement from rugby union to take up a full-time coaching role with the club. Rod Carew Jersey . The former England international, with 54 caps, made a club-record 281 appearances for Quins but will now be in charge of defence at the club.Explaining his decision, the 38-year-old said he has recently struggled to get motivated for matches and believed the club deserves a player who can commit totally to playing. He told Sky Sports News HQ: Around January or February time, I struggled with the mental motivation a little bit.Ive never had a problem getting up for games. Ive always wanted to win and give everything but that was only happening every two or three games from January or February onward. Nick Easter played 54 times in a stalwart England career I thought it might be the toll of the season so I thought Id sit on it over the summer, have five weeks off and turn up for pre-season. Well the prowlers are out, the bags are out, the running canes are out, the stopwatches are out, and I realised actually I havent changed my mind.The coaching career definitely helped make the decision. I was contracted to play this season, the offer was player-coach, taking part in the defensive aspect, which is a huge area and would have been a full-time schedule. A look back at Easters career as he retires from rugby with Harlequins and England I would have had to fit my playing in and around that and I just didnt think it would be fair on myself nor the boys, not produce the sort of quality I feel Ive been doing for the last few years.Easter joined Harlequins from Orrell in 2004, and won the first of his 54 England caps in 2007. Nick Easter, Forwards coach Graham Rowntree, the New Harlequins Director of Rugby John Kingston, Head coach Mark Mapletoft and Skills coach Collin Osborne During his fourth Test match that he scored a record four tries, against Wales in the 62-5 victory at Twickenham Stadium.He was part of the squad which reached the World Cup final in 2007, and won the Six Nations title in 2011.He played a huge role in helping Harlequins win their first Premiership title, in May 2012.In 2015, after a four-year absence from the international scene, he was called into Stuart Lancasters squad for the Six Nations and became Englands oldest try scorer in the victory over Italy.He was then re-called into Englands World Cup squad as an injury replacement for Billy Vunipola and was named man of the match after scoring three tries against Uruguay in Englands final Pool game. Easter (centre) played 281 times for Harlequins Kingston said: Nick has been an unbelievable servant to the Harlequins team for over a decade.He has been at the very heartbeat of all the successes the side has achieved over this period.Nick has a fantastic rugby brain and it is for this reason I offered him the opportunity to join the new look coaching team at the club. Both Nick and I have agreed it is in the best interests of Quins that he focuses on his coaching exclusively from now. Also See: Kingston leads Easter tributes Quins sign Connacht forward Premiership home Rugby Union on Sky Nolan Ryan Jersey . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. Albert Pujols Jersey . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. http://www.baseballangelslockroom.com/j-c-ramirez-angels-jersey/ . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena.Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Chris Kreider and Carl Hagelin also lit the lamp for the Rangers, winners in four straight including all three games in western Canada on a four-game road trip which ends in Carolina on SSaturday. Kole Calhoun Jersey. Henrik Lundqvist turned in a victorious 29-save effort. Jiri Hudler and Curtis Glencross tallied for the Flames, whose season-high losing streak reached six straight games. Karri Ramo took the loss after yielding four goals on 13 shots in half of regulation time. Jonas Hiller stopped all nine shots he faced for the remainder. ' ' '