The final game of Rob Kearney’s career will see him play for Barbarians against Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday; the 35-year-old represented Ireland 95 times, winning four Six Nations titles; he also won 11 club titles in 219 appearances for Leinster before a short spell in Australia
Last Updated: 24/11/21 8:22am
Rob Kearney has announced he will retire from rugby after Saturday’s game between the Barbarians and Samoa.
The 35-year-old, who had most recently been playing for Western Force in Australia, is part of the invitational Barbarians side at Twickenham, as he gets set to take to the pitch for the final time.
It will conclude an illustrious career that saw Kearney make 95 appearances for Ireland and win four Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams in 2009 and 2018.
He also represented the British and Irish Lions on two tours, won six Pro14 titles with provincial side Leinster, as well as four European Champions Cups and one European Challenge Cup, in 219 club appearances.
It’s always been a dream to play for the @Barbarian_FC and what a historic team to play your last game of rugby with, grateful for the opportunity! pic.twitter.com/xQP3ohB93P
Writing on Twitter, Kearney said: “It’s always been a dream to play for the Barbarians and what a historic team to play your last game of rugby with, grateful for the opportunity!”
Men’s Barbarians team to face Samoa: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Tom Wright, 10 Ryoto Nakamura, 9 Tate McDermott; 1 Tom Robertson, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 4 Jack Dunne, 5 Rodrigo Fernandez Criado, 6 Pete Samu, 7 Rob Leota, 8 Olly Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Steven Kitshoff, 17 Kosuke Horikoshi, 18 Naohiro Kotaki, 19 Angus Bell, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Nic White, 22 Ryan Wilson, 23 Rob Kearney, 24 Marcos Moneta.