Ex-rugby int’l Lamboley retires

LA ROCHELLE, France: All-purpose French international back-row forward Gregory Lamboley announced on Thursday that he was ending his playing career at the age of 36.

“I have taken the most important, and the last, decision of my career,” Lamboley, who joined La Rochelle from Toulouse last year, posted on Twitter. “I have asked La Rochelle to free me from the last year of the contract that tied me to the club until 2019.” The decision comes a week after Lamboley’s old Toulouse team-mate Patrice Collazo quit as La Rochelle coach.

And three days after French international lock Yoann Maestri reacted by backing out of an agreement to join the club from Toulouse and signed instead for Stade Francais. Lamboley won 14 French caps and played 309 games in the Top 14 and 82 in Europe. He spent 17 years at Toulouse, where he won the French title and the European Cup three times each. “Thanks to rugby for all it has given me,” he said.