I’m a three-time European champion and now run cannabis oil company in radical career change

British and Irish Lions Test lock George Kruis enjoyed a glittering trophy-laden career.

But instead of joining the throng of ex-players who become television pundits after hanging up their boots, he started a successful wellness brand with ex-Saracens teammate and former Wales international Dominic Day.

In 2018, WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) removed CBD from the prohibited supplement list in American sports.

Kruis began using the product to support his own recovery, and after experiencing positive results, he realised there was a gap in the UK market and decided to form the fourfive company with Day. 

CBD (cannabidiol) is a natural compound found in the cannabis plant, often used to treat insomnia, anxiety and pain, and as the official wellness partner of their former club Saracens, and fellow Premiership giants Leicester Tigers, Kruis is still heavily involved in rugby.

At Saracens, Kruis won three European Rugby Champions Cup titles and four Premiership trophies, later winning the Top League title when playing in Japan.

He also earned 45 caps for England and played in two World Cups in a career that was interrupted by serious injury that saw him having to constantly battle back to fitness, a challenge he faced alongside Day, and that is how the idea for the fourfive wellness brand was born.

Kruis, speaking exclusively to talkSPORT.com revealed: "For us it was out of necessity, we (Dom Day) were on the physio bed when we discussed this kicking off.

“I was on my seventh operation, he was on his fifth recovering from a knee injury and I was recovering from an ankle operation. 

"We were drawn together by our need to get back on the field as quickly as possible, and we were just exploring products that would allow us to recover better.

“Really, from there, the company was born. We started in CBD and we're very much a wellness brand now – we stock hydration tablets, vitamins and mushroom products nationwide.

"We've definitely come a long way, and in the last three years we've only just started to grow and get the foundations right and understand what the hell business is all about.

“There's a few years when you're a deer in headlights, especially with Dom and I, it was very much blind leading the blind for a bit and just trying to figure out how to operate having just come over from professional sport where pretty much everything is done for you."

Kruis made his Lions Test debut in the opening clash with the All Blacks on the 2017 tour of New Zealand, and in the 47th minute of the match he was joined in the second row by Maro Itoje, who was also making his first Test appearance as a replacement for Alun Wyn Jones.

Now, eight years later, Itoje, his former Saracens team mate, will lead the most famous touring team in the world against Australia this summer.

Kruis is understandably proud of Itoje's achievement, and the 35-year-old said: "Maro's brilliant. I always think with Maro, there's a lot of times you get what you deserve and he's a really good example of that.

“He's put in a lot of legwork, he's forever trying to improve, he's thoughtful, a good team player and he's an unbelievable athlete.

"When you combine a lot of those things, you might get one player who can do this, one that can do that – he has it all and he's been playing good consistent rugby for a long while, he puts in the minutes and his body through it.

“[The captaincy] is well deserved, he's been brilliant for the game and he continues to be a brilliant ambassador for the sport. 

"He's got his interests off field as well, he's very smart with what he does, I have got no doubt post rugby that he will have just as big an impact on whatever he goes into as what he's doing within sport.

“He's ambitious, he's smart, he puts the hard work in and understands that there has to be an off field side to his life as well. 

"He's a big inspiration to a lot of people and I am super happy that he's been named captain – largely because I know he'll go on and do a brilliant job and I think it benefits the other players that he's got that role."

Kruis and Itoje have been fortunate to play at Saracens where the club has worked hard to prepare players for careers after rugby.

Kruis explained: "It is well documented that Sarries put on endless sessions to upskill yourself, personal development sessions.

"We had a guy called David Jones whose primary role was to help us fill our downtime with useful projects, whether it was education, whether it was networking or shadowing other people within roles that we might potentially want to go into. 

"They were absolutely brilliant and have got a really strong network around them –  lawyers, accountants, PR or whatever you wanted to lean into, they'd create that opportunity.

“They really backed it, they put time and effort in and ultimately they put spend behind it and resource.

“So, I am very grateful for them and we're still a partner of Saracens, we're an official wellness supplier to the club – that relationship is still deep-rooted.

"We (fourfive) are in Sainsbury's and Holland & Barrett nationwide, we're also in some really decent gym chains like David Lloyd and Nuffield Health.

“We also stock with 25 professional sports teams and we've got a whole host of different investors that are world class international athletes.

"For us there's a recovery element to [CBD], but for me, it helps my sleep and off the back of that, you recover. In terms of sports, if you get your sleep right, you get your recovery.

“We've got other products within our range which have ingredients like magnesium, ashwagandha within them as well and CBD is a small part of that range, we're really focused on trying to hit moments in a day that really matter to people. "

Kruis is excited to see how the Lions fare against the Wallabies, with the first Test broadcast live on talkSPORT featuring Eddie Jones in the commentary box on 19 July and vividly remembers the special moment when he was told he would be a Test player in 2017.

He added: "It was obviously a super proud moment and I am very aware that not many get to play in those Tests and get to go on a Lions tour.

“The Lions is incredible and so is playing for your country. They're all memories which I cherish deeply.     

"I think some of my proudest moments would be club level just purely because you're with them all day every day and how hard it is to get to those competitions – the European cups, and to win them multiple times is something I will definitely look back on with [pride]."