Australian great David Pocock retires from rugby

Former Australia flanker and captain David Pocock has retired from all rugby and will now concentrate on campaigning for conservation causes and work on rugby development programmes.

Pocock (32) stepped down from international rugby following last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan after 83 caps, but stayed in the country to play for Panasonic Wild Knights in the Top League.

He did so not because of injury – of which there were many throughout his 15-year career at the top – but because it was “time”.

“There’s this author in the (United) States, Rob Bell, who I’ve really enjoyed his stuff over the years, and I’ve heard him say, ‘You can leave when it feels like a graduation or you can hang in there and you have to leave when it feels like a divorce’. I’m hoping that it’s going to feel like a graduation,” Pocock told RUGBY.com.au in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.

“While it was a tough decision, it really feels like the right one now and as a lot of former athletes talk about, it’s not going to be smooth sailing but it’s going to be a great challenge.”

Pocock was considered one of the finest openside flankers to play the game, with his toughness over the ball at the breakdown often unmatched.

He was born in Zimbabwe but political unrest in the country forced his family to move to Australia in 2002.

He made his debut for the Wallabies in 2008 and his first Rugby World Cup in 2011 when he was almost single-handedly responsible for Australia beating South Africa in the quarter-finals.

Pocock was appointed captain in 2012 to succeed an injured James Horwill but suffered the first of several serious knee injuries in 2013 and was then replaced as the Wallabies first choice number seven by current captain Michael Hooper.

Successive coaches tried to play the pair in the same team with Pocock often playing number eight, which created issues with the balance of the side, although they still made the 2015 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand.

Pocock often bucked officialdom and was vocal in his support for women’s rights, same sex marriage and for the environment, and was arrested in 2014 at a protest at a coal mine in northern New South Wales.

Pocock, who is completing a masters degree in sustainable agriculture, said he would now also work on development programmes for young rugby players.

“The World Cups are still real highlights looking back and all the experience of being at a tournament like that and the preparation that goes into it and being able to perform on that stage, and what it means to Australians and people around the world. After 2015, I guess, it was thinking about what was next and I kind of felt that if I could have a year away and get stuck into some other things, I would then be really keen to try and build to the next World Cup in Japan, and so I decided to do that,” he told RUGBY.com.au.