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11 rugby household names who may have unwittingly played their final games
The current coronavirus pandemic has decimated rugby and other sports competitions across the world, leaving many suspended, postponed or even cancelled.
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In rugby, some leagues across the world have not yet cancelled, and are discussing possible truncated seasons, while others have packed it in already.
WATCH: Marcus Smith took on Tiernan O’Halloran in the first of the last sixteen, in our RugbyPass FIFA Pros tournament.
One consequence of leagues being potentially terminated is that it will finish the careers of some players, robbing them of the chance of playing their final match. It may be insignificant in the broad scheme of things, but it is nonetheless disappointing from a rugby perspective.
So here are some of the players who may have played their final game of professional rugby:
FRANCOIS LOUW
Springboks flanker Francois Louw announced his retirement from Test rugby shortly after the Rugby World Cup triumph, but only announced in March his complete retirement from the game at the end of the season. Bath have not played a game since the 34-year-old broke the news, but at least he will have fond memories of his final season should he not get a chance to run out for Bath again.
BEN FRANKS
The two-time RWC winning prop Ben Franks announced his retirement in February after joining Northampton Saints in 2018. He played in the Saints’ final match before the suspension, coming off the bench in a win over Worcester Warriors in the beginning of March, which is something of a damp squib of a final match.
JAMES HOOK
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Former Wales utility back James Hook announced in January that he would retire from rugby at the end of the season, but has now been forced to rearrange his testimonial given the circumstances. For one of the best Welsh players of his generation, many will hope that his career will not go out with a whimper, and he will have a chance to play in front of the Ospreys fans again.
KIERAN READ
Nothing formal has been made by the former All Blacks captain, and he has a contract in Japan with Toyota Verblitz until 2021, but he has said that he does not know what the future holds for him.
The Top League season in Japan has already been cancelled for 2020, and the 128-cap All Black has been coy on whether he will be there next season, accepting that his professional career could be over.
MATT GITEAU
Former Wallaby Matt Giteau is in a similar position to Read, and has already admitted that it is “hard to imagine” he may have played his last game for Suntory Sungoliath, and in turn the last game of his professional career.
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The 37-year-old has had a long and distinguished career, amassing 103 caps, but retirement is an increasing possibility for a player that seemed to be eternal.
Hard to imagine that I may have played my last game in Japan for @sungoliath because of #coronavirus .. Sad situation but the right choice has been made as health & safety must always come first 🙏🏼😢
🦍💛🖤
— Matt Giteau 🇦🇺 (@giteau_rugby) March 23, 2020
DAN CARTER
Having recently made his return to rugby in January after neck surgery in 2019, the great Dan Carter was set to complete his second and final season with Top League champions, the Kobelco Steelers. Now at the age of 38, Carter will want to make up for lost time after his injury, but he is without a club ahead of next year, and has not confirmed whether he will continue playing or not.
DAVID POCOCK
Like Carter, David Pocock is another player that has not given any details about his future, and at the age of 31, he may still have more miles in the clock. However, this was the final season of his contract with the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan, and given the stress his body has been put under throughout his career, no one would blame the flanker for hanging up his boots early.
SERGIO PARISSE
The rugby world dreams that Italian legend Sergio Parisse will be granted his 143rd and final cap at some point. Unfortunately, the 36-year-old was deprived of his swansong against the All Blacks at the RWC because of Typhoon Hagibis.
He was expected to make a solitary appearance this Six Nations against England in Rome on the final day of the Championship, but that has been postponed once again. No player deserves more of a send-off in Test rugby, but it is unclear if the No.8 will get that chance.
CHRIS ROBSHAW
While Chris Robshaw will still be playing rugby next season, and he would have accepted in the summer of 2019 that his England career was over, he may not get the farewell he and all Harlequins fans would want. The flanker is set to join Rugby United New York at the end of the season, but after making over 250 appearances for the London club since his debut in 2005, and after captaining them to their greatest victories, he may not go out in a blaze of glory.
MA’A NONU
On the other side of the world, Major League Rugby in the United States was also cancelled last month. This was a season that saw a number of global stars join the league, one of which was two-time RWC winner Ma’a Nonu, who had joined San Diego Legion. The 37-year-old centre has been winding his career down for a couple of years now, but this one-year deal on the West Coast looked as though it could have been his final destination before retirement.
TENDAI MTAWARIRA
Springboks great Tendai Mtawarira finds himself in a very similar situation to Nonu after joining Old Glory DC following the RWC success. The Beast also signed a one-year deal, and now the 34-year-old’s career has been thrown into doubt despite the new season only being a matter of weeks old before it was abandoned.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments