Blood, Sweat and Beers

DETERMINED NOT TO JOIN THE LONG LIST OF EX PROS STRUGGLING WITH LIFE AFTER RUGBY, FORMER PLAYERS CHRIS WYLES AND ALISTAIR HARGREAVES TURNED A SHARED LOVE OF BEER INTO A BOOMING BUSINESS

Professional sportsmen are the envy of us all. Given the choice, who wouldn’t swap meetings for match days; conference calls for cheering crowds? But despite the excitement and adoration, careers in sport rarely last long. For rugby players in particular, 15 years in the game is about as good as it gets. And while most of us look forward to putting our feet up, for athletes with their whole lives ahead of them – who have known nothing but the singular purpose of performance up to that point – the inertia and uncertainty of life after sport can be overwhelming.

So what’s anyone approaching the end of their playing days to do? For former Saracens players Chris Wyles and Alistair Hargreaves, the answer was simple: have a beer.

“We actually first met up to discuss the initial idea when Al [Hargreaves] was 28 and I was 26, because we knew that although we were only middleaged in terms of our rugby careers, it was time to start thinking to the future,” explains 35-year-old Wyles, who only retired last year having played 254 times for Saracens (scoring 375 points) and 54 times – including three World Cups – for the United States national team.

“We bounced some ideas around and ultimately we decided we wanted to be entrepreneurial – we wanted to run a business. One day Al turned to me and said, ‘What about beer?’”

BOTTLED EMOTION

Rugby players may be among the most wellconditioned athletes on the planet, fitter and stronger with each new season, but the post-match pint (or ten) remains a sacred tradition – bringing players together and creating a culture of inclusivity. For Wyles and Hargreaves, bottling all that became their mission, and Wolfpack Lager was born.