Manuel Carizza is a former Argentina international earning 46 caps during a 13 year professional career predominantly playing in France with Biarritz, Racing Metro, Racing 92 and Lyon as well as Western province and The Stormers in South Africa.

Since retiring Manuel has become a full time barista opening up his own coffee shop in Biarritz as well as co-owning a wine business with 3 other former pumas and friends.

In this conversation we talk about some of his highlights in his career and the big differences between playing in the southern and northern hemispheres. We then discuss his journey with starting his own business after retiring and how he had the idea of build his coffee shop in the south of France and some of the challenges this brought with it. We talk about the link between serving coffee and his role within his teams on the field of play and also how he has struggled to find a new physical pursuit without the purpose of playing on a Sat.

A great conversation to listen to for anyone interested in hearing about the life of a top professional and international player and how he transitioned to becoming a successful business owner post retirement. A big thank you to Manual for sharing his story, you can find out more about him here:

https://www.instagram.com/manuchocarizza/

And more about his coffee shop here:

https://www.instagram.com/lobitacafe/

Finally, The Post Rugby Podcast would like to invite you to our Free Facebook Group - The Post Rugby Community to connect with other rugby players (current and retired) and like minded people to continue your journey to a happier and healthier life post rugby.

The time for raising awareness for improved physical and mental health in the game of rugby is over and the time for taking action is here. I hope you found some inspiration listening to the podcast today and are encouraged to take action by trying some of the things the guest talks about. See you next time :)

the stormers