Stephen Moore to retire from international rugby at end of year

Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore today announced he will retire from Test rugby at the end of 2017 and is handing over the captaincy to Michael Hooper effective immediately.

The 34-year-old hooker has played at the top level for more than a decade, after making his Super Rugby debut for Queensland in 2003 and his Test debut for Australia in 2005.

Moore told his team-mates late on Wednesday of his decision to step aside, but will don the Queensland colours again next year before hanging up his boots at the end of the Super Rugby season.

"I've had a long career and my time in the game is something I'll look back on very fondly," Moore said.

"That being said, there's still a lot of rugby ahead of me over the next 12 months and I hope to be able to contribute to the success of the Wallabies and the Reds with the time I have left.

“When I made the decision to return to Queensland, I felt it was important to give back to the Reds and help them develop the next generation of leaders. While we’ve had some disappointing results this season, we’ve definitely seen growth in the side and the emergence of some genuinely talented, competitive young players – I think the future of the Reds is in good hands if we apply ourselves and stay grounded.”

Moore, the 10th most capped international player of all time having featured 120 times for the Wallabies, has played the second-most number of Super Rugby games (177 caps) of any player in the history of the competition.