Wallabies legend David Pocock has announced his retirement from the sport with immediate effect.

The flank represented the Wallabies 83 times across 11 years, but says ‘the time was right’ to hang up his boots now.

Pocock left the Brumbies after the end of the 2019 Vodacom Super Rugby season before joining Japanese Top League club, the Panasonic Wild Knights, where he finished the 2019-20 season after Australia’s failed World Cup campaign.

He was set to return to the Wild Knights, but opted to retire to focus on his conservation efforts.

‘There was no one pivotal moment or thing that made me want to retire now, I just had a sense that the time was right,’ Pocock said.

‘No doubt it’s going to be challenging, but it’s exciting,’ he told ABC.

The two-time John Eales medallist was also nominated three times for the World Player of the Year, captained the Wallabies in 2012, and appeared at three World Cups – including a memorable 2015 campaign where he was one of the tournament’s shining lights.

Following the announcement of his retirement, Pocock confirmed his desire to remain involved in grassroots rugby.

‘Rugby has given me so many opportunities, and I’m really keen to continue supporting the next generation of players here in Australia and in Zimbabwe,’ he explained.

‘There’s so much young talent in both places who could really benefit from strong pathways.’

He is studying towards a masters degree in sustainable agriculture and is also working on a regenerative agriculture and community development project in Zimbabwe, the country of his birth.

Photo: David Gray/EPA