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Rugby Union

Record cap-winner Pelous retires

07/11/2007

France's most-capped player, lock Fabien Pelous, has announced his retirement from international rugby with immediate effect.

The 33-year-old Toulouse player, who has won 118 caps in his 12-year career, has captained his country on 42 occasions.

He was overlooked for the armband at the recent Rugby World Cup on home soil because of uncertainty about his selection due to ongoing injury problems.

Head coach Bernard Laporte opted for experienced hooker Raphael Ibanez to lead the side, although in his absence Pelous was used as a stand-in skipper.

Bernard Lapasset, the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), said Pelous' decision to hang up his boots meant "an important page in the history of French rugby has been turned".

"Fabien's qualities mark him out as an exceptional sportsman and human being, and an ambassador for French rugby around the world," Lapasset continued.

"I wish him good luck for this season with Toulouse and I hope at the end of his career Fabien will continue to be involved within the leading authorities of French rugby. He has the fabric and the stature for it."

Pelous' star-studded career includes Five and Six Nations grand slam titles in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2004 and his haul of international appearances is eclipsed only by world record-breaking scrum-half George Gregan of Australia, who has 139 caps.

His final match for his country was the 14-9 semi-final defeat to England at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He did not play in the bronze-medal playoff against Argentina, which France also lost 34-10.