A big name of world rugby steps over to the other side of the fence. The brilliant scrum-half with 110 caps for Australia, Will Genia (37), announced his retirement on Thursday on his Instagram account.

“Thank you to the teams, to my team-mates, to the coaches, the teachers, the friends and all the wonderful people in this sport who have helped me, guided me, shaped me, included me, supported me and made me better. Thank you to the supporters for making this sport what it is. Thank you rugby for all the joy”, reads his post.

“Thank you for inspiring me”

The seventh most-capped player in Wallabies history, the scrum-half played his last international match in 2019 at the World Cup before joining Japanese club Kintetsu Liners. Before that, he had notably taken his country to the final of the 2015 World Cup against Dan Carter’s New Zealand and, just prior to that, was part of the last Australian generation to win the Rugby Championship.

Genia also knew the Top 14, having worn the colours of Stade français from 2015 to 2017. Respected and admired, he was saluted on Thursday by some of rugby’s biggest names, including Antoine Dupont, who wrote to him: “Thank you for inspiring me”.