England and Leicester prop Dan Cole will retire from rugby at the end of the season.
The 38-year-old – England’s second most-capped men’s player with 118 appearances for his country – will bow out once Leicester’s Premiership campaign comes to an end.
Cole has played 340 games for his boyhood club and won four Premiership titles.
He represented England in four World Cups and made 14 appearances for the British and Irish Lions across the 2013 tour of Australia and 2017 series in New Zealand.
Cole told the Leicester’s official website: “It has not been an easy decision at all. I have been toing and froing. However, I think this is the best time for me to finish playing.
“As you get older, physically, it’s definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that’s challenging as well.
“I don’t want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long.”
More to follow.
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