Georgia’s Iconic player Mamuka Gorgodze retires from rugby

“It’s the worst end of career one can imagine," said the Toulon flanker, who was due to be out of contract in the summer.

"I have been playing pro rugby for 16 years. I gave everything for this sport and it fell really badly: between the injury and the virus… it was not the end I had imagined! 

“I was injured during our first session on the new pitch at the Berg training centre. The ground was still a bit hard and it jumped. I had to have it for ten-15 days, it was nothing, but I had three recurrences… the calf is the most annoying muscle on one leg, it is constantly stressed. I was unlucky: from ten days it became a few weeks, then three months…”

Gorgodze now plans to return home to Georgia once the lockdown restrictions are lifted in France and carve out his post-rugby career there. “I will return directly to Georgia. I think our loved ones are happy to know that we will soon return to the country. 

“As a personal move, changing jobs and countries is not ideal at the moment, but again I will not complain. These things are a pebble in my shoe if we compare to the health crisis hitting the world. Besides, I take this opportunity to thank the caregivers who give their days, their weeks, their lives around the world… they are the real heroes.”

“There are more important things than rugby right now,” Giteau had posted on Twitter.

Back in his homeland the 37-year-old 103-times capped Wallaby is beginning to face up to his 18-year career at the top of the game being potentially over. This is now unfortunately a realistic possibility for a player that seemed to be eternal.

Despite having offers from the likes of London Irish, Parisse is set to be out of contract at Toulon this summer. The talismanic number 8 has already twice been denied a fitting send off with Italy and now could retire without a suitable conclusion.  No player deserves more of a send-off in test rugby, but it is unclear if Parisse will get that chance.

Like Carter, Pocock is another player that has not given any details about his future, and at 31, he may still have more miles in the clock. However, this was the final season of his contract with the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan, and given the stress his body has been put under throughout his career, no one would blame the flanker for hanging up his boots early.

The former All Black captain quit international rugby after leading his country to a third place finish at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. But unlike his predecessor Richie McCaw, who retired altogether from rugby after the 2015 World Cup triumph, Read had a spell in Japan after signing a one-year deal with Toyota Verblitz. With that contract coming to an end, the world class back-rower may have played his final match.

The 34-year-old, who had planned to retire at the end of the current season, has become an iconic figure with Bath fans making 140 appearances over nine seasons at the Rec. His Bath retirement contrasts to his calling time on his international career after winning 76 caps for the Springboks over a nine-year period. That conclusion came in the Springboks’ 32-12 crushing of England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final last November.