Seven rugby players who will be retiring at the end of the season

Rugby World take a look at which rugby stalwarts are calling time on their illustrious playing careers at the end of this season

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As the end of the season hones into view, as does the playing career of numerous stalwarts of the game.

With various leagues across the northern hemisphere about to conclude, Rugby World have taken a look at the seven biggest names hanging up their playing boots for good in the weeks to come.

Over the years all of these players have provided us with memories to last a lifetime. In some ways, we don’t want them to go.

Ben Youngs | 2007-2025 – Leicester Tigers, England & British & Irish Lions

Ben Youngs will retire as the most-capped men’s England international, a four-time Six Nations winner, a Test series winner with the British & Irish Lions and, maybe, a five-time Gallagher Premiership champion. He retires a year after undergoing a two-hour open heart surgery

Youngs burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old toward the end of the 2007/08 Premiership season and even came off the bench to help the club secure the Premiership title that year against Gloucester Rugby at Twickenham Stadium.

As the years went by Youngs became more and more synonymous with the Leicester jersey.

Now with over 300 appearances under his belt at Mattioli Woods Welford Road and a staggering 127 caps for his country, the 35-year-old’s legacy will live on long after his playing days.

After earning two caps for the Lions in 2013, Youngs never got the opportunity to add more to his collection after turning down the opportunity to Tour in 2017 and instead stayed by the side of his brother, Tom, whose wife, Tiffany, was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Youngs could complete a move into media at the conclusion of his playing days, having already launched the hugely successful For the Love of Rugby podcast with his long-term Leicester teammate, Dan Cole.

Buy Issue 311 of Rugby World with cover star Ben Youngs

Mike Brown | 2005-2025 – Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers & England

It is almost hard to believe that Mike Brown will turn 40 in September.

For 20 seasons the full-back has played top flight rugby at his aggressive best.

During 16 years with Harlequins, Brown made 351 appearances, was a starter in Quins’ Premiership final victory over Leicester Tigers in 2012, and even has a bar at The Twickenham Stoop named after him.

Early on the Southampton-born back was identified as a potential international star and made his Test debut for England in 2007 in a 58-1o loss to the Springboks.

In 2014, Brown enjoyed his finest season in an England jersey and was voted as the Six Nations Player of the Championship by the public.

After 16 years with Harlequins, Brown swapped London for Tyneside to spend a season with Newcastle Falcons and later moved to Leicester Tigers.

Danny Care | 2004-2025 – Leeds Tykes, Harlequins & England

After 21 years competing at the top level of rugby, Danny Care has decided to call time on his career ahead of Round 17 of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby season.

The 38-year-old received a heroes sendoff at The Twickenham Stoop on Sunday afternoon as Harlequins beat Exeter Chiefs 24-22 on his 394th appearance for the London club.

Just 16 years old when he made his first XV debut for Leeds Tykes in a preseason friendly against Exeter Chiefs, Care spent time with the England Sevens setup and made his compeitive debut in West Yorkshire in 2004.

After the team’s relegation from the English top flight in 2006, Care left his home country for Harlequins. The rest, as they say, is history.

During his time wearing The Quarters, Care won the Premiership twice, the Challenge Cup once, the Premiership Rugby Cup and 101 caps for England.

Peter O’Mahony | 2010-2025 – Munster, Ireland & British & Irish Lions

Love him or hate him, Peter O’Mahony did things on a rugby pitch his way.

The combative back-row, who was unafraid of playing directly on the edge of the law, will retire after 15 years representing Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions.

A captain of Munster A’s British and Irish Cup winning side in 2010, O’Mahony established himself in his province’s first XV and helped the team to United Rugby Championship glory twice.

Handed his Ireland debut in 2012, he reached up five Six Nations victories and was selected for the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour of New Zealand, where he captained the midweek side.

More gardening on the horizon it is…

Conor Murray | 2010-2025 – Munster, Ireland & British & Irish Lions

In another blow to the scrum-half community Conor Murray is also ending his playing career.

Across his 15 years at the top of the game, the 36-year-old has made over 200 appearances for Munster, played 125 for Ireland and turned out on three British & Irish Lions Tours.

Even captaining the Lions for 17 days as Alun Wyn Jones recovered from injury, Murray was the scrum-half who booked the trend of most players in his position.

Standing at 6’2″ tall, he relied more on his tactical kicking and distribution rather than the ability to catch defenders off their guard at the base of the rugby to impress his dominance on opposition.

It was a recipe that served him well, as he retires with one Magners League,  one United Rugby Championship and five Six Nations winners medals at home.

Related: All you need to know about the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour

Cian Healy | 2007-2025 – Leinster, Ireland & British & Irish Lions

Shortly after making his Leinster Rugby debut at 19, Cian Healy was soon established as a world force.

Making his Ireland debut in 2009, he has won five Six Nations titles, lifted the Champions Cup four times, the EPCR Challenge Cup once and the United Rugby Championship seven times (across its various guises).

Even with all that silverware the 37-year-old has struggled extensively with injury – making his 18-year career all the more impressive – as neck and knee injuries have hampered his time on the pitch.

Perhaps the only thing that has evaded Healy is a British & Irish Lions cap. After his selection for the 2013 Tour of Australia, injury meant that the prop had to withdraw and never made it back to the top table.

Dan Biggar | 2007-2025 – Ospreys, Wales, British & Irish Lions, Northampton Saints & Toulon

From the age of 18 Dan Biggar has been at the centre of every team he has played for.

He made his debut against Saracens in an EDF Energy Cup semi-final win and then confirmed he was a name to remember with a nine-point haul against Glasgow Warriors in September 2008.

Biggar went on to make over 200 appearances for the Welsh province and notched 2,203 points in Swansea before joining Northampton Saints in 2018.

After four years in the East Midlands, where he helped Northampton back to the Premiership Playoffs for the first time in four years, he signed on with Toulon where he has spent the past three seasons.

For 15 years he represented Wales on 112 occasions and starred at the 2015 Rugby World Cup as Warren Gatland’s side reached the quarter-finals.

Even going on two British & Irish Lions, where he was the starting playmaker in 2021, the 35-year-old has had a career to be proud of.

Since his international retirement, Biggar has stepped into the world of media punditry and has also discussed his desire to spend more time with his young family when his playing days are done.