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Steve-o
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http://www.rugby365.com/news/1413560.htm
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A list of some great and legendary players thereSeveral players have decided they have had their fill of international rugby and subsided into a softer life - some quitting all rugby, some of them great personalties.
Here are some names.
David Aucagne
David Aucagne, at 35 years of age, has retired from rugby.
In just three seasons he played 15 times fro France. In 1997 and 1998 France won the Grand Slam. He played for Pau when they won the French championship in 1997 and also for French Students at the Students World Cup in 1996.
Christian Califano
Christian Califano played 72 times for France in his 12 seasons with Toulouse. He was in the winning team for Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998 and went to the World Cups in 1995 and 1999. With Toulouse he was there when they won the French Championship in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001. He was there when they won the Heineken Cup in 1996.
When he ran out of goals to achieve in France he went off to Auckland and played for the Blues. Then he went to Saracens, then Agen and finally Gloucester. His wanderings did not stop him from playing twice more for France - against New Zealand in 2007. His Test debut was also in New Zealand - in 1994 when France surprised everybody by winning the series in New Zealand.
Christian Califano (born on May 16, 1972) is a French rugby union player who plays at Gloucester Rugby.
Born in Toulon, he turned 36 on 16 May 2008.
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio, one of the greatest personalities to play for England, retired from rugby in 2008 at the age of 35, a man full of honours.
He played only for London Wasps and with the club won the Premiership five times, the Powergen Cup three times, the Heineken Cup twice, the Six Nations four times and the World Cup once. His last big match was for Wasps at Twickenham when nearly 82 000 spectators at Twickenham watched his Wasps side win.
He played in 85 Tests for England, went on Lions tours to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and played in successive World Cup Finals - in 2003, when England won, and in 2007, when England lost.
He first played for England at the 1993 Sevens World Cup, the very first one.
Born in London, he turned 36 on 10 August 1972.
Pieter de Villiers
Born in Malmesbury in the wheatlands of the Cape, Pieter de Villiers propped 70 times for France, sometimes regarded as the best tighthead in the world, making his debut for France in 1999.
He was in the French side which won the Six Nations in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007 with Grand Slams in 2002 and 2004. His club side, Stade Français, won the French Championship in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004. He played for France in the World Cups of 1999, which included the semifinal win over New Zealand and defeat in the Final.
A neck injury hastened his retirement which he announced in April 2008, three months before his 36th birthday.
Christophe Dominici
The small man's hero, mercurial Christophe Dominici of Stade Français was always an exciting player whose greatest moment may well have been in the French recovery that knocked the 1999 All Blacks out of the World Cup.
In all he played 65 times on the wing for France, scoring 25 tries. Twice he was in the side which won the Grand Slam, four times in the team which won the Six Nations. He played for France five times when they won the French championship - 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2007. Retired he became a coach at Stade Français.
Dominici came up from Toulon to join Stade Français in 1997 and made his debut for France the following year. He scored a try against England on debut. His last match was against Argentina when France lost the third-place play-off in 2007. He was just on 36 when he retired at the end of the 2007-08 season.
Richard Dourthe
The son of a famous French player, Claude Dourthe, Richard Dourthe became a famous French player, making his debut at centre in 1995 and playing 31 times for France, perhaps better known for his strength and destructive tackling than for his finesse. His last Test was in 2001. He scored two tries but kicked 35 conversions and 32 penalty goals. He was in the French side that beat the All Blacks in the 1999 semifinal of the World Cup and in the side which won the Grand Slam in 1997.
He played for six clubs - Dax, Stade Français, Béziers, Bordeaux-Bègles, Castres and Bayonne. Now he is coaching at Bayonne.
He was 32 when he retired.
Anthony Foley
Anthony Foley seemed to epitomise Munster - big, strong, robust, fearless, committed. Between 1995 and 2008 he played 186 times for Munster, 81 times in the Heineken Cup - both of those are records. He captained Munster when first they won the Heineken Cup in 2006 when he was the captain.
In all he played 62 times for Ireland and was at the World Cups of 1995 and 2003. His last match for Ireland was in 2005. On three occasions he captained Ireland.
Foley's sister Rosie played for Ireland. His father played for the famous Munster team that beat the All Blacks in 1978.
Xavier Garbajosa
Xavier Garbajosa, one of the great talents of French rugby in the professional era, has decided that he will play no more, succumbing to repeated injuries, six months after he last played. The 32-year-old three-quarter who was capped 32 times for France, damaged his left knee, and he decided that he would play no more.
Toulouse born, he played most of his career with Toulouse, whom he joined in 1994, moving to Bayonne in 2007 and a contract due to end in June 2009.
He first played for France at Under-19 level in 1995 and was in that great World Cup semifinal in 1999 when France beat New Zealand in perhaps the most dramatic match of all World Cups. He was at the 2003 but had to pull out because of injury. His first cap for France was against Ireland in 1998, his last against England in 2003.
Omar Hasan
Born in Tucumán, prop Omar Hasan Jalil was 37 when he stopped playing rugby at the end of the 2007-08 season in France.
Hasan came to France in 1998 to play for Auch. After just one season he moved to Agen and then, after five seasons, to Toulouse. He was in the Stade side that won the Heineken Cup in 2005 and the French Championship in 2008. He played for the Pumas at three World Cups - 1999, 2003 and 2007 after making his debut for his country in 1995 against Uruguay..
He has a fine baritone voice, cutting his own album with its mixture of opera, folk songs and tango.
Julian Huxley
Medical reasons stopped Julian Huxley's promising career. Tall and skilful, he had played for Australia at Sevens, Super rugby for the Brumbies, the Reds and then the Brumbies again and had played for the Wallabies nine times.
In March 2008, aged 28, he was diagnosed as having a benign brain tumour. The operation was a success but it ended his career at a time when he seemed set to take over the fullback berth from Chris Latham who was leaving Australia.
Alex King
Alex King of London Wasps, a talented player, played five times for England from 1997 to 2004.
Later he moved to Clermont Auvergne in France and then retired at the end of the 2007-08 season to become Clermonyt's defensive coach.
Pablo Lemoine
The massive Uruguayan prop, Pablo Lemoine, has retired from rugby at the age of 33. He first played for Uruguay against Argentina in 1997 and was then recruited by Bristol. Like many other South Americans he moved to France where he played for Stade Français from 2000 to 2006, twice as a winner of the Top 14, and then Montauban. In 2007 he went home to Uruguay.
Lemoine played for Uruguay at the World Cups of 1999 and 2003. In all he played 37 times for his country.
Gareth Llewellyn
In September 2008 Gareth Llewellyn retired - at last. He was 39 years of age, had played in many places and had been capped 92 times for Wales between 1989, when at 20 he was chosen against a powerful All Black side, and 2006.
When he retired he was Wales's most capped player, having overtaken Neil Jenkins. He captained Wales seven times and played at the World Cups of 1995, 1999 and 2003. In his last season of international rugby Wales won the Grand Slam.
Dan Luger
Daniel Darko Luger MBE, born on 11 January 1975 in Chiswick of a Croatian father and Czech mother, grew up in London and played rugby for Richmond, then for Orrell, then for Harlequins, then for Saracens and then back to Harlequins. Later he would play for Perpignan in the Top 14, then Toulon in the Pro D2 and then Nice in the Federale.
He made his debut as a rapid wing for England in 1998 and despite many injuries he played 33 times for \England, scoring 21 tries including a famous try deep in injury time that beat the Wallabies at Twickenham. He was in the England team which won the World Cup in 2003. In 2001 he was on the Lions tour to Australia but injury cut his tour short.
He also played for England at Sevens.
Percy Montgomery
At the age of 34 Percival Colin Montgomery retired from international rugby, the first South African to reach a hundred caps and South Africa's highest points' scorer. In all he had 102 Test caps and had scored 893 points.
Born in Walvis Bay when it was a part of South Africa, he grew up in Cape Town and played for Western Province from 1996 to 2002 when he went off to play for Newport. That stint changed his career. He came back to South Africa and played for the Sharks, then Perpignan and then, again, Western Province. He played Super rugby for the Stormers and then the Sharks and then again the Stormers.
He made his debut for South Africa as a centre in 1997 and also played wing and flyhalf but really he was a fullback, the most capped Test fullback in the history of the game. He was at the 1999 Rugby World Cup when the Springboks were eliminated in extra time in the semifinal by the eventual winners Australia and at the 2007 Rugby World Cup which South Africa won. His first Test was against the Lions, which South Africa lost. His last was against Australia, which South Africa won 53-8.
Anton Oliver
Like his father Frank Anton Oliver captained the All Blacks, the second father-and-son captains in Test rugby after Felix and Morné du Plessis of South Africa. He played hooker 59 times for New Zealand and then went off to play for Toulon in France, a decision he regretted as he found French rugby violent. But he helped the team win promotion from Pro D2 to the Top 14
With New Zealand he was in the side that won the Tri-Nations in 1999, 2006 and 2007. He was at the World Cups of 1999 and 2007 after making his debut. A man of studious disposition, he left Toulon for Oxford University, reading biodiversity and winning a Blue in Oxford's victory over Cambridge. He made his debut for New Zealand in 1997 and played his last match at the 2007 World Cup when he was 32 years of age.[/b]
