Former All Black ‘hangs the old boots up’
Former All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu has played his final game of senior rugby.
The 2011 World Cup hero, who spent the season playing for Wairarapa Bush in the Heartland Championship, announced his retirement on Instagram following Saturday’s 36-26 defeat to West Coast in Masterton.
‘‘It’s been a honour and a privilege to have played footy over the years!’’ Weepu wrote alongside an image of his boots hanging up in the changing room.
Weepu played the last of his 71 tests for the All Blacks in 2013 to continue his career in Europe.
After stints with London Welsh and Wasps in England, and two seasons in France with Oyonnax and Narbonne, he returned home this year before linking with Wairarapa. It was always his plan to retire at the end of the season.
‘‘It’s purely just to play footy and feel that love again, and then hopefully hang the old boots up,’’ he said earlier this year.
The 34-year-old’s time with the Bush did not go to plan as they won just one game all season, while Weepu’s debut was cut short by an undisclosed medical event.
But he can look back on an impressive career that included 124 Super Rugby appearances (84 for the Hurricanes, 40 for the Blues) and 54 games for Wellington, best remembered for his leading role in the All Blacks’ World Cup triumph on home soil six years ago.