AJ Venter has retired from international rugby, effective immediately and will not travel to Australasia with the second-string Springbok squad for the away leg of the Tri Nations.Â
He will also miss out on the opportunity of playing in this year’s Rugby World Cup in France. He cited “personal and business commitments†as the reasons for his retirement.
He will, however, remain with the Sharks for the 2007 Currie Cup and 2008 Super14 seasons.
“My current contract with the Sharks will continue unchanged as they have been loyal to me and have given me their constant support throughout the last seven years, and I would like to use the next year to leave something behind.
“I did not want to retire outright without giving something back to the Sharks and the loyal Sharks fans who have supported me throughout my stint here in Durban,” he admitted. “I would like to leave here with the satisfaction of having contributed by imparting something onto the younger Sharks players.
He thanked SA Rugby for the opportunity to represent his country at the highest level.
“Having represented the Springboks has obviously been the highlight of my playing career and I have built some very special memories over the years.â€
We can only speculate as to possible reasons for AJ’s shock decision:
1. He wants to spend more time with his new wife.
2. He knows that he is too old and slow to perform at the highest level and wants to quit while he’s ahead.
3. He is pissed off with Jake White for calling him back early from his honeymoon to come and hold tacklebags.
4. He knows he is not part of White’s World Cup plans.
5. He feels slighted at being overlooked for inferior players like Danie Rossouw and Bob Skinstad.
6. He can’t stand Skinstad and doesn’t want to be captained by him.
7. He wants to preserve his body for one final Super14 payday.
8. He can’t stomach the prospect of playing with useless team mates like Eddie Andrews, Michael Claassens and Tonderai Chavanga.
9. All of the above
10. None of the above
What do you think?
Somethings up… something stinks… and it could well be that his Wife is a little more than irritated by this ‘rugby thing’… Something stinks, and it’s not his underutilised Mauritius swimshorts – What is known tho, is that the Boks could really have used him… Who wants Schalk all on his lonesome… I guess he’s pissed off with the whole Bok setup?
could it be that the former hardman is whipped? wasn’t his wife voted “strongest woman in the world” – wait no, i think it was “fittest woman in the world”
He must’ve lost a high stakes arm wrestling showdown with his missus.
Gary Teichmann had this to say:
“I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. AJ had a great Super 14 and wasn’t even in the mix for these home Tri-Nations Tests. I don’t know what’s happened, but maybe there was some behind-the-scenes stuff we don’t know about.
“I was especially surprised that AJ wasn’t called up for the All Blacks Test in Durban because a physical player of his nature stands out in the big games. I thought he would be in the mix, especially when Juan Smith and Pierre Spies were both injured.
“The northern hemisphere conditions suit AJ’s strengths. He also provides versatility and can play at loose-forward or lock. I would have thought a player of dual purpose would have had some worth to the Boks.â€