Barely a week goes by without a high profile player announcing his retirement from the game.
And this week it was the turn of arguably the most predatory international try-scorer of his generation when Springboks star Bryan Habana announced he would be hanging up his boots this summer.
Habana scored 67 tries in the 124 Test appearances he made for the Springboks and his last international appearance was in 2016 when he also acted as vice-captain.
The electric wing underwent knee surgery last year and has struggled to make an impact at Toulon this season.
"The inevitable moment has come knocking on my door and I've welcomed it in for a drink," he said.
Habana is among a raft of stellar names announcing their retirement from the game and with that in mind we give you our XV you won't see on the rugby pitch next season....
15: ISA NACEWA
The Auckland-born 35-year-old made one Test appearance for Fiji against Scotland in 2003 and retired from the game in 2013 after five years at Leinster, only to rejoin the province in 2015.
He has scored 700 points in eight seasons and was part of the Leinster team which booked their place in the European Champions Cup final with a 38-16 hammering of the Scarlets in Dublin on Saturday.
During his first stint in the Emerald Isle, Nacewa was part of the Heineken Cup-winning teams of 2009, 2011 and 2012.
14: BRYAN HABANA
The flying wing, who made his international debut against England at Twickenham in 2004, scored eight tries to help South Africa reach the final of the 2007 World Cup where they beat England.
In 2015, he went on to equal former New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu's record of 15 tries in World Cups.
Habana last played international rugby in 2016, and ends his career four appearances short of the all-time South Africa appearance record set by Victor Matfield.
Another fleet-footed wing with Toulon, France's Vincent Clerc, will also call it a day after a stellar Test career that saw the 36-year-old win 67 caps for his country winning two Grand Slams in 2004 and '10 and a further Six Nations crown.
13: CONRAD SMITH
Smith played 94 tests for the All Blacks between 2004-2015, winning World Cups in 2011 and 2015, before leaving New Zealand and cashing in at Pau.
One of the games most under-rated players and an unsung hero of the All Blacks' global domination, Smith was denied a European final swansong at Pau when the French outfit lost in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup at the Cardiff Blues last weekend.
12: ROB HORNE
The 28-year-old former Wallabies centre was forced into retirement this month after suffering career-ending nerve damage to his right arm playing for Northampton Saints against Leicester on April 14.
Horne played more than 100 times for the New South Wales Waratahs, including winning the Super Rugby title in 2014.
He won 34 Test caps having made his debut in 2010.
Samoan centre Winston Stanley is another who has recently announced his retirement due to an injury playing in the Premiership for Harlequins.
11: TOMMY BOWE
The former Osprey won 69 caps for Ireland after making his debut in 2004, also played for the British and Irish Lions in 2009 and 2013.
A shoulder injury ended any hopes of the 34-year-old being part of Joe Schmidt's Six Nations Grand Slam-winning Irish squad in 2018.
He spent four years with the Ospreys linking up with the region in 2008 and in all played 77 times scoring 36 tries.
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Former US Eagles skipper Chris Wyles, who has been capped 54 times by his country, is another calling it a day after a decade plying his trade as Aviva Premiership giants Saracens.
Wales wing Eli Walker is another finishing after an injury-ravaged career with the Ospreys.
10: JUAN MARTIN HERNANDEZ
The gifted Argentine playmaker announced his arrival on the Test scene at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
In all he won 74 caps having represented the Pumas at three World Cups.
The majority of his career was spent in France playing for Stade Francais, Racing 92 and Toulon before returning home to represent the Jaguares in Super Rugby two years ago.
A knee injury suffered while playing for the Jaguares against the Reds on March 17 has seen Hernandez retire on medical advice.
9: FREDDIE MICHALAK
France's all time leading scorer will hang up the boots this summer after the triple Grand Slam winner admitted the physical nature of the sport is getting "more and more difficult" for his 35-year-old body.
Michalak, who retired from international rugby in 2015 after 77 appearances, started his Test career aged 19 at scrum-half in a victory over Italy in 2002.
In 2004 Michalak and Toulouse club colleague Jean-Baptiste Elissalde innovated by constantly switching between scrum-half and fly-half. He later would fill the No.10 jersey and finished his Test career with 436 points in 72 caps, with four Six Nations titles in all, as well as three Top 14 titles and a record six European titles with Toulouse and Toulon.
1: WYATT CROCKETT
The 35-year-old played 71 Tests for New Zealand and having only suffered three defeats in the black jersey, his winning percentage of 94.36 per cent puts him third in the all-time list.
Despite finishing his international and Super Rugby career with the Crusaders, the rugby boots haven't been entirely put out to pasture as he will turn out for Tasman Mako in the Mitre 10 Cup.
2: SCHALK BRITS
The pocket battleship of a hooker has been one of the best foreign imports into the English game and is all set to end a stellar career with Saracens this summer.
His stay at Allianz Park has encompassed three Premierships, two Champions Cups and 10 caps for South Africa and there could well be more Aviva Premiership silverware to come before the pipe and slippers come out.
Leinster and Ireland hooker Richardt Strauss is another to announce his retirement this week.
3: ADAM JONES
The 'Bomb' announced his decision to call it a day last month to focus on a coaching career with Harlequins.
The 37-year-old prop idol, won three Grand Slams during a 100-cap Test career for Wales.
Jones starred for Neath, then Ospreys, and played a season for Cardiff Blues before joining Harlequins in 2015.
His international career began for Wales against England at Twickenham in August 2003 and took in three World Cups and the 2009 and 2013 Lions tours.
4: DONNCHA O'CALLAGHAN
After a glittering 20-year career, the giant lock will hang up his boots at the age of 39.
He was just two caps short of three figures having played 94 times for Ireland, many of those being a boilerhouse partner of Paul O'Connell, while also having four Tests with the Lions.
He captained the Lions in South Africa in 2009 and featured in three consecutive World Cups for Ireland between 2003 and 2011, and won the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2009.
O’Callaghan also had a decorated 17-year spell with hometown side Munster, where he won two Heineken Cup titles and two Magners League titles in his 268 appearances before moving to Worcester Warriors in 2015, where he will end his career.
5: CHRISTIAN DAY
The 34-year-old has been at Northampton since 2008 and helped the Saints to two European Challenge Cups and two Premiership titles.
He was chairman of the Rugby Players' Association from 2014 to 2017 and will now take on a full-time position as player liaison officer with them.
6: TOM CROFT
The 32-year-old, who played 40 times for England and five Tests for the Lions, was forced to retire on medical grounds.
He was also involved in four Premiership-winning campaigns with Leicester, whom he represented 173 times, and started the 2009 Heineken Cup final against Leinster at lock.
7: SAM JONES
The Wasps flanker retired on medical advice last month after failing to recover fully from an injury sustained at an England training camp.
Jones, 26, fractured his fibula and suffered significant damage to his ankle while grappling with Lions colossus Maro Itoje during a judo session in October 2016.
He has not played a first-team match since and has now been advised to quit.
8: JAMIE HEASLIP
Heaslip played 95 times for Ireland and won five caps with the Lions, but has been unable to recover from a back injury suffered last year.
The Leinster star had not played since March last year, when he completed the full 80 minutes against Wales in the Six Nations. Heaslip played at two Rugby World Cups, featuring in all 10 of Ireland's games at the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.
He was part of the 2009 and victorious 2013 Lions tours and was nominated for World Rugby's Player of the Year in 2009 and 2016.
Another titan of an No.8 across the Irish Sea, Connacht's John Muldoon is poised to call it a day this summer.
