Wales great Halfpenny to retire from rugby

Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny has announced he will retire at the end of the season. Halfpenny, 37, played 101 internationals for Wales, scoring 801 points, which ranked him third in the nation's all-time points scorers behind his mentor Neil Jenkins and Stephen Jones. He played four Tests for the British and Irish Lions and was named man-of-the-series against Australia in 2013.

Halfpenny started and finished his career with Cardiff and also played for Toulon, Scarlets, Crusaders and Harlequins, winning the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup during his career. Halfpenny joins fellow back-three stars Liam Williams and George North, who have announced their retirements in recent weeks. Halfpenny started playing rugby for Gorseinon in Swansea, where his grandfather Malcolm regularly took him for a young age for kicking practice.

"Starting out aged six down at Gorseinon RFC, I could never have imagined the journey rugby would take me on," Halfpenny wrote on social media. "None of it would have been possible without those people that supported me from the beginning. "Rugby has given me some of the best moments of my life and I've been incredibly fortunate to have played the game I love for the last 18 years.

"It's always going to be difficult to walk away, but the time feels right as I reflect back on a career I'm grateful for. " Leigh Halfpenny played in three World Cups for Wales Halfpenny made his Wales debut aged 19 in the first game of the autumn series against South Africa in November 2008. He played in the Grand Slam success of 2012 and the Six Nations triumphs of 2013 and 2021 and was part of two World Cup semi-finals sides in 2011 and 2019.