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Sam Whitelock ends All Blacks return talk by announcing retirement
By Josh Raisey
Double World Cup winner and the All Blacks' most capped player Sam Whitelock has put an end to any speculation linking him with a return to international rugby by announcing his retirement at the end of the season.
The 153-cap international joined Top 14 outfit Pau after the World Cup last year on a two-year deal, but new All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson had reportedly approached him about making a Test return this year.
But the All Blacks confirmed on Tuesday that the 35-year-old will instead retire at the end of the current campaign in France.
It will bring to an end a career that saw him record 125 Test wins after making his debut in 2010, compete in four World Cups (winning the Webb Ellis Cup in 2011 and 2015), win eleven Rugby Championships, and captain his country on 18 occasions.
“I’ve been having a few conversations with my wife Hannah and the kids around what the future looks like for us," the lock said.
"And it’s time to finish the playing chapter of rugby.
“I think if you talk to anyone who has played for a long time, that desire [to compete] never leaves, it’s just that stage of life when you move on.
“It’s not a decision that we have come to lightly, but it’s the right thing for myself and it’s the right thing for my wife and our three kids - Fred, Iris and Penelope.
“And I think that is what excites me the most – spending more time with my kids and my wife, and actually watching them play sport. Being able to go to the cross-country at school and those things.
“It’s hard to thank everyone, but obviously Hannah has been a massive part along with my parents, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunties and grandparents. And also the fans in general, they’ve been so receptive of myself and also the way I play.
“I’m very appreciative of the support I’ve had and there is no way I could have achieved the things I’ve had without them.”
Robertson added: "Sam is an immortal of our incredible game.
“First and foremost, he is a quality person. A great husband and father who has a special ability to build deep connections with people from all walks of life.
“In terms of his rugby, Sam’s impact has been immense both mentally and physically over four World Cup cycles. He is a winner who rose to any occasion as his competitive spirit drove him to the highest level of performance.
“Sam will stand with the greats of our game.”
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Latest Comments
Well that sux.
Go to commentsLike I've said before about your idea (actually it might have been something to do with mine, I can't remember), I like that teams will a small sustainable league focus can gain the reward of more consistent CC involvement. I'd really like the most consistent option available.
Thing is, I think rugby can do better than footballs version. I think for instance I wanted everyone in it to think they can win it, where you're talking about the worst teams not giving up because they are so far off the pace we get really bad scoreline when that and giving up to concentrate on the league is happening together.
So I really like that you could have a way to remedy that, but personally I would want my model to not need that crutch. Some of this is the same problem that football has. I really like the landscape in both the URC and Prem, but Ireland with Leinster specifically, and France, are a problem IMO. In football this has turned CL pool stages in to simply cash cow fixtures for the also ran countries teams who just want to have a Real Madrid or ManC to lose to in their pool for that bumper revenue hit. It's always been a comp that had suffered for real interest until the knockouts as well (they might have changed it in recent years?).
You've got some great principles but I'm not sure it's going to deliver on that hard hitting impact right from the start without the best teams playing in it. I think you might need to think about the most minimal requirement/way/performance, a team needs to execute to stay in the Champions Cup as I was having some thougt about that earlier and had some theory I can't remember. First they could get entry by being a losing quarter finalist in the challenge, then putting all their eggs in the Champions pool play bucket in order to never finish last in their pool, all the while showing the same indifference to their league some show to EPCR rugby now, just to remain in champions. You extrapolate that out and is there ever likely to be more change to the champions cup that the bottom four sides rotate out each year for the 4 challenge teams? Are the leagues ever likely to have the sort of 'flux' required to see some variation? Even a good one like Englands.
I'd love to have a table at hand were you can see all the outcomes, and know how likely any of your top 12 teams are going break into Champions rubyg on th back it it are?
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