England's Danny Care retires from international rugby

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England's Danny Care retires from international rugby

2024-03-26 07:11 Last Updated At：07:21

LONDON (AP) — Scrumhalf Danny Care retired from international rugby on Monday after 101 caps in a 15-year England career.

Care played in all five of England's matches in the Six Nations, and came off the bench against Ireland this month to earn his 100th cap. He passed to Marcus Smith, who kicked the winning drop goal.

“The time feels right for myself and the team, to retire from international rugby,” the 37-year-old Care told englandrugby.com. “The past 12 months in this England team have been arguably my favourite, making memories that my family and I will cherish and remember forever.”

He started with England Sevens in 2006 and that year helped them win a Commonwealth Games silver medal.

He made his test debut in June 2008 off the bench against New Zealand in Auckland. He started the second test the following weekend in Christchurch and scored his maiden test try.

More than half of his 101 caps were as a replacement. Eddie Jones didn't play Care in 2019, 2020 and 2021 but the scrumhalf never gave up on reaching 100 caps. He was recalled for the victorious tour of Australia in mid-2022 and stayed on under Jones' successor Steve Borthwick.

Care won three Six Nations and went to Rugby World Cups in 2015 and 2023, when England reached the semifinals. He was injured before 2011 and dropped before 2019.

The sixth Englishman to earn a century of caps thanked the coaches for believing in him. He also gave gratitude to England supporters.

“It means the world,” he said, “and nothing will ever beat the feeling of walking out to all of you at Twickenham.”

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Former cycling world champion Lizzie Deignan to retire at the end of next season

2024-11-16 01:29 Last Updated At：01:30

LONDON (AP) — British cyclist Lizzie Deignan, a former world champion and the only woman to win the ‘triple crown’ of monuments, will retire at the end of next season.

Deignan was the first British athlete to win a medal on home soil at the 2012 London Olympics, earning silver in the women’s road race. She competed in her fourth Olympics in Paris this year and was 12th in the road race.

Her Lidl-Trek team said in a statement on Friday she agreed on a one-year contract extension and will put an end to her almost two-decades-long career at the end of the 2025 season.

The 35-year-old Deignan was successful on the track first then morphed into a one-day race specialist. She won the rainbow jersey at the 2015 world championships, one of her many professional road victories at the biggest races.

She's won all three women's monuments: The Tour of Flanders in 2016, Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2020, and the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021.

"Often people say, ‘Retire on the top.’ But I have no ego or necessity to retire at the top. I’m really happy to go full circle and be somebody that helps other people win bike races again,” she said.

Deignan put her career on pause in 2018 when she had her first child, and planned to retire earlier but was convinced to carry on by her team.

"The reason I initially wanted to retire was because I no longer have the motivation for my own results,” she said. “They spoke to me and offered me a contract in the vein of being a road captain and somebody that can mentor the younger riders coming through. That kind of sparked a bit of motivation in me and I thought, yeah, actually that’s something that I am really motivated by. I really enjoy bringing out the best in the people around me. I still love cycling.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports