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THE top second-rower in international rugby Dan Vickerman is poised to walk away from the game he loves next year to undertake an economics degree at Cambridge University.
While the Wallabies lineout general may be reaching the peak of his powers on the rugby field, the 29-year-old is on the verge of sacrificing that for a change of lifestyle.
It had been anticipated Vickerman would head overseas to join a leading English club but he revealed that was not the case and he was bravely prepared to tackle a completely new challenge.
"I'm looking at a few options, obviously study has always been one of the things that I am extremely keen on," Vickerman said when he joined the Wallabies squad in Manly following ankle surgery which forced him to miss the first three Tests this season.
He said nothing was set in stone but he was leaning towards going to Cambridge to undertake a BA with honours in economics.
"That will test me in a different way to what the rugby does. It's very different from what I have been doing for the past decade and something I'm excited about," Vickerman said.
The demands of that degree would restrict the outstanding Test forward to playing amateur rugby for the Cambridge University side.
"From what I have heard it is pretty intense with all the mathematics and the stats and all those wonderful and interesting things," he said.
"If I do go to the university it will be full-time university - there won't be any professional rugby involved."
He said playing for Cambridge - whose big game is the annual clash with Oxford at Twickenham - would be a big change.
"But I've been very envious of friends who have gone there and done that," he said.
Vickerman's likely departure will leave a huge hole for the Wallabies and Waratahs to fill and Vickerman has been wrestling with the decision.
"It's pretty hard to leave Australian rugby especially when it's been so kind to me and it's been a massive part of my life," he said.
"As I have always maintained it's definitely been about a different lifestyle and at the end of the day it is nothing really to do with finances."
The realisation that this Tri- Nations campaign could be his last has also provided Vickerman with added motivation.
"I have been very privileged and lucky to have been able to wear the Australian rugby jumper. It's something I will always treasure," he said.
The good news for Australian rugby is that Vickerman has not closed the door on making a return for the 2010 World Cup.
But he knows moving abroad means there are no guarantees.
"If presented with the opportunity to get selected for the World Cup it's definitely something I would consider at the time," he said.
"But when you go overseas and whatever you want to do - playing professional sport or not - you take that risk because there are a lot of good guys coming through," he said.
"And who knows, in two years time you might not be required. Someone else might have stepped up."
In the meantime Vickerman is looking forward to working under the Robbie Deans regime, saying all the players are pretty pumped about the way it is going.
"It's obviously a new style of play and an exciting style of play," he said.
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to ..........." 
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