Disco Denis Hickie announces retirement.

carlowboy

Leinster and Ireland wing Denis Hickie has announced that he will retire from professional rugby immediately following the Rugby World Cup in the autumn.

Hickie, who to date has won 58 caps for Ireland since his try scoring debut against Wales in 1997, was yesterday named in the Ireland squad for the Rugby World Cup.

The winger has scored 29 tries so far for Ireland and on several occasions has held the Irish try scoring record, vying for the title with his Leinster colleague Brian O'Driscoll, who is also currently on 29 tries.

His abilities were further honoured with his selection for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005.

Speaking about his decision, Hickie said, "I have had a very enjoyable and fulfilling career as a professional rugby player. I entered the senior ranks at the dawn of the professional era and benefited from all the advances made in that time.

I have now decided that the best time to end my career is immediately after the upcoming World Cup.

It is a decision that that I have not come to hastily and as a result I am content that it is both the right thing for me to do and that I am doing it at the right time.

I have enjoyed all my time as a professional player to date and I look forward to reflecting on all the aspects of my career and thanking all the people who have helped me throughout the last 11 years when the time comes but for now my focus is entirely on doing everything I can to help Ireland win the Rugby World Cup.

Finally, I want to conclude by saying that I have chosen to make this announcement now in the interest of letting Michael Cheika and all at Leinster Rugby prepare accordingly for the upcoming season."

Commenting on Hickie's decision, Ireland Coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who is currently with the squad at their warm weather camp in the South of France, said: "I think Denis will be remembered as one of the great wingers of Irish Rugby. From my first encounter with him as Irish U-21 coach I knew he was destined for a great career with Ireland. He has always been the consummate professional as is reflected in his performances with Ireland. I wish him every success in his retirement but not before he continues to have a major impact with us at Rugby World Cup."

Philip Browne, Chief Executive of the Irish Rugby Football Union also added to the plaudits and said: "Denis has been a wonderful servant to Leinster, Ireland and the overall game of rugby throughout his career. His natural talent and also his dedication right from the early days of professionalism has set him apart as one of Ireland's great players. I wish him all the best in his future career plans".

Leinster Chief Executive Michael Dawson commented: "Denis Hickie has been an outstanding ambassador for Leinster and Irish rugby since making his debut for the province back in 1996. He has gone on to become one of the province's most decorated players of all times, amassing a total of 130 Senior appearances and his try-scoring ratio, a fraction shy of one every two games, is second to none on the world stage.

He has shown immense drive, hunger and resilience throughout his career and I know that this decision can't have been an easy one for him to make. Obviously we are disappointed to lose the services of someone of Denis' calibre, but everyone at Leinster Rugby accepts his decision and would like to wish him the very best of luck in his future career."

Leinster coach Michael Cheika added: "Denis has been a key figure for Leinster during my time as coach over the last two years. As one of the squad's senior players, his influence in the development and change within our squad has been huge.

He has comeback from serious injury to make strong contributions to our team and for that we thank him. On behalf of myself and my team, I would like to acknowledge all his efforts over the course of his career and wish him well in the upcoming World Cup and for his future away from the game."

zAbbo

Bit of a shock alright.

Rugby Legend, a try scoring machine who has that unteachable white line fever, he's coming off 2 amazing seasons as well.

Fair play if he wants to bow out at the top, he could easily play another 2 seasons for Leinster though, but with the upcoming players maybe it's the right decision for him.

I suspect there's more to this story though, surely he could have indicated to Leinster beforehand, it's a little short notice to just say he's not going to play for them again, bit of a sour note for such a fantastic player.

zAbbo

Hickies jinking try v Australia last November - http://www.uafc.co.uk/video/ivadh.wmv

Jackz

I would have though announce after the world cup!? Let Cheika know now obviously but keep all focus on the world cup.

besty

Legend of a player in the Green and Blue shirts.

Hopefully he can go out with a real bang!!!

psicic

God Save Leinster!

He's definitely a player that found his feet again after being somewhere between mediocre and dreadful a few years back. I would have thought he had a few years left in him considering how in his stride he is (some of our other 'stars' pale in comparison). Hopefully he still feels fit enough to play the rest of the season for the Lions, but can't really begrudge his decision to leave - a class act of his calibre knows best when to leave the stage.

Pace-wise, who do people think is most likely to compare in a blue jersey in the upcoming season?

tHE vAGGABOND

Its not great for leinster, but right for Ireland..

After this world cup, we take a breather and start building for the next one, and realistically, everyone over 30/31 will not be there in 4 years. We are going to enter a rebuilding period over the next few years, and we are going to loose a few games. But if that means we will have a good world cup in 4 years then so be it

nacho libre

A legend! It is great the way Hickie got himself back into the Irish team. I sure hope he departs in a blaze of glory.

Kalashnikov_Kid

Yeah was thinking myself he might have given Leinster a bit more notice. Surely that ruptured achilles factored in his decision. Very tough to recover from. Hickie was always a player who relied on out-and-out pace so I suspect he thought he wouldn't have had the legs to compete at the top in the future.

I always thought BOD might do the same after the 2011 WC - he'd be 32 by then and hes had his fair share of problems.

Crash

psicic wrote:

God Save Leinster!

He's definitely a player that found his feet again after being somewhere between mediocre and dreadful a few years back. I would have thought he had a few years left in him considering how in his stride he is (some of our other 'stars' pale in comparison). Hopefully he still feels fit enough to play the rest of the season for the Lions, but can't really begrudge his decision to leave - a class act of his calibre knows best when to leave the stage.

Pace-wise, who do people think is most likely to compare in a blue jersey in the upcoming season?

Pace wise - Kearney has got the legs when he gets going, in my mind.

Stev_o

&#231 wrote: »

Pace wise - Kearney has got the legs when he gets going, in my mind.

Yeah Karney looks promising on form scored a great try against Ospreys that was trademark Hickie

zAbbo

Luke Fitz has speed to burn, although I think he'd make a great running full back, Kearney has a savage left boot though, there's also the likes of Gary Brown as well.

Hamo

'Hickie' = superb... after 130 Leinster caps I would have hoped we might see another season or two out of him, hopefully he's not lost to Rugby

remus808

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote:

I always thought BOD might do the same after the 2011 WC - he'd be 32 by then and hes had his fair share of problems.

Tbh I don't think he'll last that long.. Due to serious injury or otherwise..

Diamondmaker

Heard this Mon but did not really beleive it, to hear it on the radio this morning was a shock still!!

I have heard he will NOT be playing out the season with Leinster either unfortunately....:mad:

ABSOLUTE LEDGE ROYSH AND A REAL CROWD FAVE DOWN IN DONNYBROOK !!:cool:

psicic

I think we should blame the move to the RDS for this (and anything else that goes wrong for Leinster in the next year or so)!!

Amazotheamazing

Goodbye Fr. Jack, one of the greats.

Pride Fighter

besty wrote:

Legend of a player in the Green and Blue shirts.

Hopefully he can go out with a real bang!!!

Agreed, hopefully the legend that is Hickie can retire with a world cup winning medal.

EdgarAllenPoo

He'll be badly missed both by Ireland and Leinster.

Since it is a trend for players to call an end to their careers around world cup time who do you think might be next? I have a feeling Quinlan and Hayes might go which would be bad for both Munster and Ireland.