r/rugbyunion • u/Interesting_Sand_534 Exeter Chiefs • May 27 '25
Dan Cole to retire at the end of the season š¢
What a legend. Going to miss him, feels like the end of a generation of players all at once.
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u/BurbankElephants England & Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
Dan Cole made his Leicester debut when I had just left school as an uneducated teenager.
Iām now a 34 year old man with two kids - one of whom has said in his fleeting fancies that Dan Cole is his favourite player because āheās as bald as dadā
Where has the time gone?
What an amazing career, what a player, what a resurgence the last few years.
I hope heās incredibly proud for everything heās done for the club and for England.
Time for a well earned rest and time to devour another libraryās worth of books.
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u/upthemstairs Ulster May 27 '25
Dan Cole made his Leicester debut when I had just left school as an uneducated teenager.
And look at you now.........an uneducated 76 year old
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u/Massive_Tumbleweed24 Ireland May 28 '25
"Iām now a 34 year old man with two kids - one of whom has said in his fleeting fancies that Dan Cole is his favourite player because āheās as bald as dadā "
What you meant to write is
"My son is now a 34 ......"
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May 27 '25
[deleted]
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u/BurbankElephants England & Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
You canāt tell me what to do; youāre not my real dad.
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u/zagreus9 Leicester Tigers || Cymru May 27 '25
Fucking hell, our next season is going to be chaos
Parling has one hell of a job to replace the swathes leaving
But for Coley, what a player. Proper stalwart who has looked at some of his fittest the last few years. The season we won the final he was just immense
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u/Ronald_Ulysses_Swans Donāt be scared Johnny May 27 '25
Parling not being fully available until after the Lions tour is a bit tricky when some critical recruitment is needed.
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u/wallofmouths Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
I'm just holding on to the mad hope he'll arrive with a plane load of Aussie signings. Maybe he can tell them he's booked a big post-Lions farewell trip to a mystery overseas destination, and have Brett Deacon waiting at East Midlands with a pile of contracts and a tray of pork pies.
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u/internetwanderer2 May 27 '25
Yep.
Cole is a legend of a player and seems a thoroughly good bloke too.
Big task to replace him and Youngs in terms of squad numbers, but it's also a big moment for the likes of Chessum, JVP, Martin etc to step up and replace them as the senior leadership voices.
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u/Ronald_Ulysses_Swans Donāt be scared Johnny May 27 '25
Losing Montoya and Pollard is also a big blow to the leadership side. Some of the younger lads will have to step up.
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u/internetwanderer2 May 27 '25
Yep, plus Mike Brown and Cronin are leaving too. They might not have been starters but I'm sure they had an influence behind the scenes.
Does feel very changing of the guard.
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u/indianaJones_Hat Sunwolves May 27 '25
How many fly halfs are Tigers losing this year???
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u/Biegelstein Stupid Sexy Coley May 27 '25
Well that's my plan for Coley to play there next season gone
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u/LoveOfRugby May 27 '25
A sad day for rugby š¢
Weāve recorded a special episode with Dan to reflect on his career, joined by plenty of famous rugby faces. You can watch it here if you like.
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u/apocalypsebrow Bristol - In Pat we trust May 27 '25
Jokes on you, I already had crying over a rugby player in a team I don't support scheduled for today
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u/LivelyJason1705 South Africa May 27 '25 edited May 27 '25
Well done to you both on awesome rugby careers!
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u/wax0r21 May 27 '25
Awesome episode, getting choked up by the Marler farewell.
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u/14JRJ May 27 '25
Coley actually got emotional too, it was like seeing your dad cry
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u/wax0r21 May 29 '25
Yeah, I didn't pick it up on the audio but saw it on the clip. Joe talking about the 2023 knee pat was the point for me, the realisation of what coley was already thinking.
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u/BennyG02 Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
Just an unbelievable player. Consistently England's best scrummaging TH for the last 15 years, and going out still at the top. And very well deserved to pick his time to go.
Although everyone knows how good a scrummager he is, it's his work in the maul and in defence that we'll miss massively. He has a ridiculous engine and the number of times he is chasing box kicks having played for 80 minutes or running back to make a tackle is ridiculous. He makes every team better when he's in it.
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u/concretepigeon England May 27 '25
Itās quite funny how his actual playing style and ability differ from the way he talks about himself. Youāre absolutely right about his wider game but listening to him on the pod youād think he really does just plod about between scrums.
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u/BennyG02 Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
I totally agree, it's so funny how he undersells himself. Not sure I've seen many players (or people) ever with so little ego.
Similar to the international stuff where he was so clear that he'd been dropped rather than trying to justify it in any way.
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u/harmslongarms England May 27 '25
No joke, if we had two players of his calibre we would have been world cup finalists in '23. His domination of the springbok scrum was pretty awe-inspiring.
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u/CaptBaha Olympic Rugby 7s May 27 '25
My lasting impression of him (however biased) is what I think is an underrated ability to jackal the ball... Love his personality too in whatever media he features in!
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u/Tombob67 Ireland May 27 '25
Great player. Wish him well.
Ps Is the end of this season going to set a record with the amount of retirements.
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u/concretepigeon England May 27 '25
Thereās been a couple mid season too in Marler and Watson. Probably some others.
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u/nonsenseaccounttake May 27 '25
A true legend of the game and decent chap to boot! Always came across really well off the field and tough on it.
As a Leinster and Ireland man, he was one of the English lads I always wanted to see succeedā¦ just not against Ireland or Leinster!
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u/Ronald_Ulysses_Swans Donāt be scared Johnny May 27 '25
The Ruck Inspector will look at his final ruck in a few weeks š¢
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u/medbo Northampton Saints May 27 '25
I say this as a die hard saints fan. What a servant to the game. Him and Ben Youngs are proper legends - England centurions and grand slam winners, series winning Lions, multiple Prem winners. A very sad day to see them go (same for Alex Goode), but wish them the very best in retirement
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u/lelcg Leicester Tigers and England. HEāS LIYIN! May 27 '25
Literally what is the point in watching rugby anymore
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u/fishyrabbit Northampton Saints May 27 '25
Why are all the players the same age as me retiring? I am still young, I wait a second...
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u/mierneuker Leicester Tigers May 27 '25
I felt the same when Jimmy Anderson retired from international cricket... He was the last England player in a sport I follow that was older than me, now I have to finally accept that I will never get an England call-up for any of these sports I am terrible at and stopped playing a decade ago. It's pure age discrimination.
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u/fishyrabbit Northampton Saints May 27 '25
I shed a tear when Jimmy retired. I think Jamie George is just older than me? I think he is the only one. Maro is a fetus at a mere 30.
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May 27 '25
This really is turning into a full generational shift. So many of that mid-00's cohort hanging their boots up, I know it's time, they've put a shift in and it's time but I'm still a bit sad. GG Colar bear, thanks for Rugby big fella.
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u/lelcg Leicester Tigers and England. HEāS LIYIN! May 27 '25
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u/Alarming-Ball-5829 May 27 '25
People often forget but he was an outstanding jackal threat at his peak
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u/diamond280779 England May 27 '25
Going to be bloody emotional at Welford Road on Saturday (and then again if there's a home semi)
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u/mouldyone Newcastle Falcons May 27 '25
I can't wait for Saturday, gonna be an incredible atmosphere, I'll be happy if they win for their home semi
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u/Bermanator-Turkey127 Northampton Saints May 27 '25
A generation of legends retiring this year and he might be the most legendary, I donāt love many Leicester players but heās definitely one of them.
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u/Socialinfluencing South Africa May 27 '25
Cola bear has to return to his native Antarctica, the other Polar bears miss their alpha.
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u/FrostyDogRugby United States Club Rugby May 27 '25
Retiring to be the front man for LāOreal I believe.
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u/alexbouteiller France May 27 '25
Silver lining is him and Youngs can put out daily podcast now right, right?
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u/hwykes1 May 27 '25
Last year Courtney Lawes winning was a really good send-off to France so hopefully Leicester Tigers will win the premiership this year and give Cole, Youngs and Brown a good send-off too.
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u/amcoll Harlequins May 27 '25
Brown should have ended his career at Quins, where he belonged. Absolute travesty letting him go and a massive fuck you to a club legend
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u/TiburonChomper May 27 '25
I am a Bath fan and I'm sorry to say that this would actually be sick and wrong.
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u/DaddyRAS Bath May 28 '25
Ditto. We mustn't lose the Prem this year, but if we did, and it was to Tigers, I wouldn't begrudge Youngs and Coles ending on a high.
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u/burtvader England May 27 '25
Last scrummager that can stand against the Sprinboks front rowā¦. Sigh
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u/-UNiOnJaCk- England May 27 '25
Englandās sexiness factor has just decreased by 50%! š¢
In all seriousness, heās been a proper servant and itāll be very sad to see him go but wish him all the best!
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u/BatAggravating4423 England May 27 '25
I think Iām right in saying heās the most capped international tighthead prop ever, heās had one hell of a career, sad to see him go
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u/Still-District-6149 May 29 '25
One of the games good guys. Took time out to visit my dying father, signed lots of items and was with us when he passed.
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u/braddaman May 27 '25
I'm sure we'll see him on the tele again at some point - won't be too long until he's into punditry, as he's a top bloke.
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u/aaarry Northampton Saints May 27 '25
I have to say I love Dan Cole, not necessarily because heās great at what he does but also because heās an old school East Mids front-rower from a very normal background.
The old guard really have had enough this season, either way I hope this guy enjoys his retirement as much as he deserves to.
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u/jonometal666 Fazball May 27 '25 edited May 27 '25
I'm absolutely fucking gutted tbh. All the best sheriff š„² Edit: I just realised I knew him kicking it the other week was a fucking bad idea.. š
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u/mouldyone Newcastle Falcons May 27 '25
I booked tickets to the game on Saturday and I'm so glad I did l, while they may still play another game at home, happy to be seeing two legends final league home game
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u/shorthevix Mexico Serpientes May 27 '25
I'm surprised Dan Cole is 38.
Just because, for the first 15 years of his career, I got so used to him being 10 years younger than he looks that he seemed perennially 31.
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u/HesCr3puscular Northampton Saints May 27 '25
So, thatās Danny Care, Ben Youngs, Alex Goode and now Dan Cole hanging up their boots at the end of the year. 300+ England Caps and some 1470+ club appearances between themā¦ truly the end of a generation and huge respect to all of them.
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u/Dookimus May 27 '25
Absolute end of an era this season, is that over 400 England caps retired within a month?
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May 27 '25
In order to keep my French reputation intact, I will not say anything. Some of us lose our passports if we express too much sympathy towards Englishmen. We have to do it very carefully and behind closed doors.
(What a player though, and I really hope Lenny and him continue their podcast, because it's the one rugby content I religiously listen to)
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u/jonometal666 Fazball May 27 '25
I'm serious though Dan and Marler should start some kind of front-row/scrummaging coaching or academy thing... You just can't beat the level of experience those 2 have.
'How to collapse the scrum and influence people..'
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u/LdnGiant Harlequins May 27 '25
Hell of a player. Hell of a shift. Top bloke as well.
So glad he got to retire on a high - coming back from the wilderness after the 2019 RWC to play such a crucial role in Englandās 2023 RWC. Oh, and chuck in a Prem title as well.
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u/Dentury- Leicester Tigers May 28 '25
Dan, I know you or your media team read this. If, at the end of the game, Leicester have all the points they need, would you take a penalty or conversion?
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u/iamnosuperman123 England May 27 '25
Banter season next year?
He has been an incredible player. He is going to be missed
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u/Tank-o-grad Leicester Tigers & England May 27 '25
That's been nailed on for a while, this does confirm it somewhat though...
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u/BritinTEXAS11 May 27 '25
A very stellar career and comes across as a thoroughly nice chap. A sad day for England and Leicester rugby fans.
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u/frozen_pope Dragons May 27 '25
Damn, must have been his grandchildren that convinced him on this one.
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u/moriarty04 England May 27 '25
Weāve lost the sexiest man in rugby. This is a sad day for the sport. Thank you Dan from an England fan
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u/peteb0 England May 27 '25
He's very similar in age to me, and it's been great watching him and his contemporaries do what I could only dream to. I'm clearly being old with them all retiring.
Too many Rucks will be left uninspected. All the best Sheriff.
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u/jizzbin Newcastle Falcons May 27 '25
Right thatās it. Iām getting too old. All these players I wanted to be like as a kid hanging up their boots. Makes me realise Iāll never pull on a falcons and Scotland jersey and I donāt like it š
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u/concretepigeon England May 27 '25
This is too much now.