Record holder Leonard to quit international rugby

England prop Jason Leonard today announced he is to end his glittering international career after the 2004 RBS 6 Nations championship.

Leonard, the world’s most capped rugby player with 114 Test appearances, has ruled himself out of the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia and informed Clive Woodward that he is to call time on his 14-year stint in England’s front row.

Speaking in his column in the London Evening Standard, Leonard said: “I have no doubt that this is the time to bow out of international rugby for the right reasons. You have to put a stop to your career at some point and that time has now arrived.

“This is my decision, I have nothing to prove to anybody and I have been lucky enough to have achieved more than I could have ever dreamed of when I started in 1990.

“I have no regrets and have enjoyed every minute, but I realise that by not making myself available for England’s summer tour that this had to be my final Six Campaign.”