Kuwait Times

Wallabies lock Mumm to hang up boots at end of season

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Australia lock Dean Mumm, who enjoyed a ‘second coming’ for the Wallabies that took him to the 2015 World Cup final, will retire from profession­al rugby at the end of the season, the Australian Rugby Union said yesterday.

The New Zealand-born veteran of 57 tests would bow out to focus on his philanthro­pic interests and other career paths, the ARU said in a statement.

Mumm will hike to the North Pole next year to raise funds for Borne, a premature birth research charity, a cause close to he and his family after his son Alfie was born a month premature during the World Cup in Britain.

“I’ve had a great career in rugby and it’s given me so much but now I see it as an opportunit­y to give back, as well as spend some quality time with my family,” said 33year-old Mumm, whose grandfathe­r Bill earned an All Blacks cap.

“(My wife) Sarah and I are really passionate about the premature birth foundation, so I’m looking forward to contributi­ng whatever I can to helping the cause.”

A versatile player capable of slotting in the back row, Mumm made his test debut against Ireland in Melbourne in 2008 and became a regular in Robbie Deans’s side but he gradually fell out of favour and headed to Europe to re-boot his career.

He was embraced as a cult hero by Exeter fans and captained the club during a threeyear stint in the English Premiershi­p before returning home in 2015 to make an audacious bid for a spot in Michael Cheika’s World Cup squad. Earning his first test cap in nearly five years during the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championsh­ip, Mumm would go on to captain the Wallabies against Uruguay at the World Cup and play every match of the tournament. Mumm has also enjoyed a long and successful career in Super Rugby, and currently sits on 124 caps in his second stint with the Sydney-based New South Wales Waratahs who are battling for a playoffs spot.

He will have a chance to add to his 57 caps in June internatio­nals against Fiji, Scotland and Italy before the Rugby Championsh­ip starts in August.

“Dean’s got a real plan for his life post rugby... but he has still got plenty of opportunit­y to leave a legacy in the gold jersey and I expect he will do everything he can to do that before he hangs up the boots,” Cheika said. — Reuters

 ?? — AP ?? SYDNEY: In this March 21, 2009, file photo, Waratahs’ Dean Mumm, left, runs past the Crusaders’ Brad Thorn during their Super 14 rugby union match in Sydney. Mumm will retire at the end of the 2017 season after 57 tests for the Wallabies and 112 Super...
— AP SYDNEY: In this March 21, 2009, file photo, Waratahs’ Dean Mumm, left, runs past the Crusaders’ Brad Thorn during their Super 14 rugby union match in Sydney. Mumm will retire at the end of the 2017 season after 57 tests for the Wallabies and 112 Super...

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