Mathieu Bastareaud announces he will retire at the end of the season

“Enough” will reattach the cleats. Freshly crowned in the Challenge Cup final with Toulon on Friday 19 May, Mathieu Bastareaud announced that he would end his career at the end of the season. “It’s my last trophy and next week will be my last game at the Mayol”the former French international told BeIN Sport immediately after the final whistle. “I grit my teeth for a year. I wanted to stop on my legs. It’s done […] I’m lucky to be able to win one last trophy before I retire.”

At 34, Mathieu Bastareaud will therefore play the last games of his career at the end of the regular season Top 14) against Bordeaux-Bègles on 28 May. Unless there is a miraculous scenario (a bonus and large win against UBB and a no-bonus win over both sides of Bayonne against Lyon at the same time), he will not play in the finals.

The native of Créteil will have spent 11 years in Toulon, with a Brenno championship up for grabs (2014) and four European cups (2013, 2014, 2015). A former Italian international (54 caps between 2009 and 2019), he won the Grand Slam at the Six Nations Tournament with the Blues in 2010 and played in one World Cup in 2015, before retiring internationally in 2019.