Not your average default swap: Ex-England star Andy Goode on his switch from rugby to currency trading

Twickenham and Victoria are not too far apart. A 40-minute train ride is all that separates one of London's main stations from the home of English rugby.

For some, however, the gap could not be greater from a professional point of view.

"Retiring from playing rugby to working in the financial industry was quite a big step," former England international Andy Goode tells IBTimes UK.

"Going from carrying your boots to training, and playing every weekend to wearing a suit Monday to Friday took some adjusting."

Having played the game for 18 seasons, the second highest point scorer in the history of the Premiership hung his boots up last year for the final time, before successfully starting a new career as Head of Strategic Sales at currency and international payments specialist moneycorp.

The company, which has offices in Britain, Ireland, Spain and the US, traded £25bn worth of currencies and handled over 7 million transactions last year.

In his new role, based a stone throw away from Victoria Station, the former England fly-half is responsible for developing the firm's network of corporate and high-net worth clients as they seek support with international payments and managing foreign exchange risk.

For a man who has won five Premiership League titles and two Heineken Cups, Goode's new working environment could not be further away from the one in which he spent 18 years of his life, but there are more than a few common denominators between the two.

"Rugby and finance are obviously very different fields," explains Goode, who won 17 caps with the red rose on his chest.

"Having said that, however, there are a lot of transferable skills between the two industries. For example, team work is a key component of both and in both environments you are looking at producing the best results as quickly as you can."

Just as is the case in other sports, in the oval world a lot of players tend to become coaches or step into the punditry arena once their careers are over. So what led Goode into finance?

"I always looked after my own finances, particularly as I played abroad at different spells of my career," he says.

"Foreign exchange has always been a keen interest of mine and gradually it developed into something bigger."

Aside from two spells with Leicester Tigers either side of a season at Saracens and stints at Worcester Warriors, Wasps and Newcastle Falcons, Goode also plied his trade abroad, spending two seasons at Brive in France's Top 14 and one season in South Africa with the Natal Sharks.

If his forays outside of Britain were successful from a sporting point of view - he was the Top 14's second-best point scorer in the 2008-09 season - they also helped the 37-year develop a knack for adapting quickly to foreign environments.

"Playing abroad helped me massively," explains Goode.

"I remember being told to immerse myself into a whole new culture as much as I could, which is exactly what I did when I left Britain. To an extent, leaving rugby behind to work in the FX market is very similar."

International exposure also plays a prominent role in Goode's current position, as moneycorp aims to develop its expansion in the UK and abroad even further, after launching into Romania, Spain, Gibraltar and the USA in 2016.

Ironically, so does rugby, and not just because of Goode's regular slot on the popular podcast The Rugby Pod and as a commentator for BT Sport.

"When I speak with clients, some of them want to talk only about business," he chuckles.

"But a lot of them love a good rugby chat before moving onto finance!"