Dan Cole, English rugby legend, announces his retirement

The Leicester Tigers prop, Dan Cole, announced his retirement from rugby at the end of the season, the club confirmed on Tuesday. Cole, with a 19-year rugby career, has participated in 565 matches. Among them, his 118 appearances for the England national team stand out, making him the second male player with the most international matches.

On Saturday, Cole will play at least one more match against the Newcastle Falcons.

The Tigers are in second place in the Premiership Rugby. The semi-finals are scheduled for June 6 and 7, and the final will be played on June 14 at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

It hasn’t been an easy decision at all. I’ve been hesitating, however, I think this is the best time to finish playing.

Dan Cole

Cole added that he believes it’s the right time for the club to move forward, especially with the departure of players like Ben Youngs and Julián Montoya, and the arrival of Geoff Parling as head coach next season.

This is what I have done and what I have known every day for the last twenty years, so the easy thing would have been to sign for a year and keep playing, but it’s the right thing. It’s a really difficult decision to make, but I know it’s the right one.

Dan Cole

Cole also mentioned that, as he gets older, it’s physically more difficult to continue and that he doesn’t want to be “the old guy” who’s just present.