England & Tigers prop Cole to retire at end of season

Apart from loan stints in the Championship earlier in his career, Dan Cole has been a one-club man with Leicester Tigers

England and Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole will retire at the end of season.

The 38-year-old is the second most capped men's player in England history, having made 118 appearances for his country.

Cole, who also twice toured with the British and Irish Lions, came through Leicester's academy and has played 340 senior games and won four Premiership titles with his boyhood club.

Cole said his decision to retire had been influenced by Ben Youngs, his long-time team-mate for club and country, who recently announced he would be hanging up his boots.

With decorated 39-year-old Tigers full-back Mike Brown also retiring, captain Julian Montoya moving on at the end of the season and former Tigers and England team-mate Geoff Parling returning to the club as head coach, the front-rower believes "this is the best time for me to finish playing".

"I believe, with Ben Youngs, Julian Montoya and others that are in and around my age ending their time at the club at the end of the season, plus the new chapter next season with Geoff Parling coming in as head coach, it's time for the club to kick-on and the right time for me to go," he told the club website.

"As you get older, physically it's definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that's challenging as well.

"I don't want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long."

Dan Cole won the Six Nations title three times with England

Cole, who won three Test caps among the 14 games he played for the Lions in 2013 and 2017, played in the the last of his 118 England Tests last autumn.

Only Youngs - with 127 caps - has featured for the men's national team more than the prop, who went more than three years without playing for England after their World Cup final defeat by South Africa in 2019.

It was Steve Borthwick, Tigers' 2022 Premiership-winning head coach, who recalled Cole to the international stage when he took charge in 2023.

He went on to take Cole to his fourth World Cup, where the forward said his performance in England's semi-final exit against South Africa was a lesson in redemption.

"Overall, I have loved my career but haven't loved every minute, which has allowed me to appreciate the good times even more,"- said Cole.

Borthwick said it was a "privilege" to play alongside Cole and later coach him.

"He's not only a brilliant team player, but also a rare talent," said the England head coach.

"His loyalty and service to both England and Leicester Tigers have been truly outstanding."

Cole is now the latest player looking to finish on a high with Tigers next month, with the club second in the table and chasing a 12th Premiership title.

"It's clear it is not over yet," Cole said.

"This is about finishing my career at the end of our season. There is still hopefully a few more games left for me to play this season."

'Multi-layered person'

Tigers head coach Michael Cheika, who is also leaving at the end of the season, said it had been "super interesting" getting to know Cole in their year together after leading Australia and Argentina sides against the prop in the past.

Under the Australian this season, Cole has made 13 league appearances and started only once, with Joe Heyes establishing himself as first-choice tight-head.

"He is a multi-layered person," Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester.

"He loves his footy but he is a smart guy in other areas as well, as you can see with what he is building [as a podcast host with Youngs]. He is quite logical and calculating with how he approaches the game and also how he approaches what he is doing next.

"But he is still able to bring the emotion and the joy of being part of the club or part of England and uses that as motivation to make him better.

"What can you say? The amount of Test matches and club matches he has played for Leicester would say it all."