One Of The All-Time Great Rugby Players Is Set To Retire At The End Of The Season

The Dark Destroyer.

Toulouse skipper and former France captain Thierry Dusautoir has announced he will hang up his boots at the end of the season.

The 35­-year­-old flanker captained France a record 56 times, and won three Top 14 titles and a European crown in a storied career with Toulouse. He was named World Player of the Year in 2011 after leading his country to a World Cup final defeat to New Zealand.

“If I’m emotional it’s because I’m finishing my rugby playing career at the end of the season,” he told a press conference.

“It’s a very special moment, charged with emotion for me but not sadness, as I’m going to be enthusiastically pursuing a new opening which I’ve begin to develop, a second life as a businessman.”

“The decision one day to come along and put on boots and a pair of shorts literally changed my life and turned a timid kid into one who had confidence in himself.

“This sport has changed my life and I owe it a great debt. “I never thought I’d go on to have the career that I did,”

The back-row forward burst onto the world stage at the 2007 World Cup, making his name with a breathtaking display against New Zealand in the quarter ­final with a try and 29 tackles. His heroics that day lifted France to a famous win and earned him the nickname “The Dark Destroyer”, and cemented his place in the national side.

Dusautoir brought the curtain down on his 80-­cap career after a disappointing 62­-13 loss to the All Blacks in the 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter ­final.

We wish him the very best.