MUNSTER CAPTAIN AND New Zealand’s all-time leading try-scorer Doug Howlett has today announced his retirement from rugby.
A statement from the southern province this morning confirmed the fear that Howlett, out of contract this summer, would not renew his deal in Ireland after suffering with a shoulder injury in the closing months of the season.
Howlett, 34, scored 49 tries in 62 Tests for the All Blacks before joining Munster in 2008. He would go on to make 114 appearances, scoring 35 tries to become the province’s second-highest try-scorer behind Anthony Horgan.
His 114th and final appearance came in the 51-24 defeat to Glasgow in March. It was there he injured the shoulder in the act of scoring a try with the game long since lost.
In today’s statement, Munster said that the All Black had been in negotiations to extend his contract, but after undergoing surgery in Dublin he will retire on medical advice.
©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
Munster also say that the Kiwi has no imminent plan to return to New Zealand. Instead, he will remain in Cork for the time-being with his wife and three children.
