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Bryan Habana, the World Cup-winning winger for South Africa, announced his retirement from the game on Tuesday, saying he wished his career had 'ended differently'. Toulon's Habana, who won the World Cup with the Springboks in 2007 and is the joint-highest try-scorer in the tournament overall, announced his retirement via his Instagram account. The 2007 IRB Player of the Year, who has been out with a knee injury for much of the past year, wrote: "The inevitable moment has come knocking on my door and I've welcomed it in for a drink. "It's been more than a year of hoping, trying, pushing and willing to get back on the field for one last time, to taste the sweet victory or encounter that gut-wrenching despair. "To hear the roar of the crowd or grab the pill out of the air. To make that last bone crunching tackle or score that last game winning try. "But it's unfortunately just not to be. I, like most, would have liked my career to have ended differently, but sometimes things don't turn out quite the way we hope for." Habana last played for South Africa in late 2016, when Allister Coetzee was still coach, but in February the former Lions, Bulls, and Stormers player hinted that he did not anticipate a return to the green and gold. "On a personal level it's been a great run and, of course, the life of Bryan Habana is not going to stop after rugby," he told Sport24 at the time. He ends his international career with 124 caps for the Boks, including at the 2007, 2011, and 2015 World Cups, and is the second-highest try-scorer in international rugby, with 67 tries.
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