Australian captain John Eales has announced that he will retire from all levels of rugby following his country's final match in this year's Tri-Nations Series. The second-row forward, who has played 83 Tests for the Wallabies and has captained the side in 52 of those Tests, will make his final appearance for his country on September 1 when Australia take on old rivals New Zealand at Stadium Australia.
It was expected that the Wallabies captain would annouce his retirement following the conclusion of this year's Lions tour down under but following the Australians' marvellous 2-1 victory over Graham Henry's squad, Eales decided to lead Australia in one final tournament before hanging up his boots.
"At the end of the Lions series I sat back and reassessed my playing future. I decided that I would throw everything into this Tri-Nations campaign before stepping down for good. The game has been kind to me and I'm very thankful for the positive support I've received. Now, I'm looking forward to spending more time with my parents and family," he explained.
However, Eales will still play an important role in Australian rugby as he will take up a specially-created consultancy role with the Australian Rugby Union following his retirement.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
