1
British & Irish Lions and Ireland great O'Callaghan reveals retirement plans
British & Irish Lions and Ireland legend Donncha O’Callaghan has confirmed that Warriors’ final home match of the 2017/18 season against Harlequins will be his last in professional rugby.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a glittering 20-year career, the giant lock will hang up his boots at the age of 39. Warriors’ Aviva Premiership Round 21 clash with Quins is an all-important one for Alan Solomons’ side, and the match on Saturday 28 April will also see the club say farewell.
O’Callaghan said: “I leave the game with a profound sense of gratitude for all that it’s given me. Physically I feel I can go on but now is the right time to go.
“It’s time to spend more time with the kids. A professional sportsman has to lead a selfish life, but it’s not fair on my family any more for me to keep doing this while precious time ebbs away with me in one country and my family in another.
“There are a lot of people to thank for my time in the game, during which I have also made so many wonderful lifelong friends, and to each and every one of you, I’d like to say a very big thank you.
“I’d like to thank Worcester in particular for making me feel so welcome and treating me so well. I’ve certainly felt at home for the past three seasons and I wish the Club the best of luck in the future.”
Donncha O’Callaghan speaks about his retirement to RugbyPass during the Six Nations
ADVERTISEMENT
O’Callaghan amassed 98 Test caps, with 94 for Ireland and four for the British & Irish Lions, while he also represented the illustrious Barbarians on two occasions.
He captained the Lions in South Africa in 2009 and featured in three consecutive World Cups for Ireland between 2003 and 2011, and won the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2009.
O’Callaghan also had a decorated 17-year spell with hometown club Munster Rugby, where he won two Heineken Cup titles and two Magners League titles in his 268 appearances.
He made the move across the Irish Sea to join Warriors in September 2015 at the age of 36, and quickly established himself as a key figure at Sixways.
ADVERTISEMENT
The imposing lock played in all 22 Aviva Premiership games in his first season at the Club and has since gone on to make 62 appearances in the Blue & Gold. He captained the side for the first time in January 2017 and was handed the armband for the 2017/18 campaign.
During his three-year stay at Sixways, O’Callaghan has picked up the Fans’ Player of the Season award in 2017 as well as the WRSC Player of the Season award in 2016 and 2017.
Warriors Director of Rugby Solomons said: “Donncha has had a stellar rugby career. He has proved himself at the top end of the game.
“More importantly, he is a quality bloke and certainly one of the finest men I have had the privilege of coaching.
“He has made an invaluable contribution to the Club over the past three seasons and has played an important role in the development and mentoring of our young players.
“He leaves behind a wonderful legacy and by dint of who he is and what he has done, he will rightly be regarded as a legend of the game.”
You may also like:
Ex-Scotland international, Jim Hamilton, travels to Singapore to explore the city and find out more about the rugby scene in the Southeast Asian country. He meets up with the national team captain and several local players.
Comments on RugbyPass
Shame 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.
2 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..
2 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.
2 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.)
2 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.
28 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?
2 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to comments