Leigh Halfpenny becomes latest Welsh great to announce retirement

Former Wales and British & Irish Lions great Leigh Haflpenny has announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Halfpenny will bow out of the game with 101 Wales caps to his name and 801 points, as well as four caps for the Lions across three tours, and follows in the footsteps of his longstanding Wales and Lions team-mate, George North, in announcing his retirement.

The 37-year-old has spent the past season with Cardiff, returning to the Welsh capital after a season with Harlequins.

Despite starting his career with Neath, Halfpenny initially joined Cardiff as a teenager, and went on to establish himself on the world stage at Cardiff Arms Park before joining Toulon in 2014.

After a successful three years in France, winning the Investec Champions Cup, Halfpenny returned to Wales in 2017 to join the Scarlets, before a stint with the Crusaders in New Zealand in 2024, followed by his time with Quins and now Cardiff.

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“It’s inevitable that every player comes to the end of their career, but I am genuinely saddened to see Leigh finish this season,” said Cardiff life president and fellow Welsh great Sir Gareth Edwards.

“He has achieved so much in the game and undoubtedly goes down as one of the game’s greatest players.

“He is someone I have admired, respected and enjoying watching over the years, and even more so as a player from Cardiff.

“A prodigious goal-kicker and an outstanding full-back. He was absolutely outstanding in that first stint for the club, where he enjoyed so much success and typically gave his all in every moment.

“He sits among right among the finest players to have pulled on the Blue & Black and can be incredibly proud of everything he has achieved in the game.

“Off the pitch, his personality also makes him such a likeable young man. He is so humble and always has time for people, even in the chaos sometimes brought by his stature in the game.

“Everyone at Cardiff wishes Leigh, Jess and their family the very best for the next chapter. We all feel very fortunate that he spent so much of his career here.”