South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff has been forced to retire from the game because of a serious neck problem.
Kitshoff, a World Cup winner in 2019 and 2023, underwent surgery after sustaining the injury on Currie Cup duty for Western Province in September.
The 33-year-old former Ulster player revealed in a subsequent interview that he was told by a specialist that “I was two millimetres away from catastrophe, from death”.
Despite extensive post-operation rehabilitation he has been left with significantly reduced rotation in his neck and has been advised that there would be a high risk of sustaining another injury if he played again.
“It is obviously incredibly disappointing for my career to end in this way, but unfortunately the risk to my wellbeing was simply too high,” the 83-cap international said.
“I really wanted to finish my story with the DHL Stormers on the pitch and gave the rehab and comeback the best shot I could, but it was not to be.”
