Rugby legend David Pocock came out of retirement for one game.
Despite the fact the Wallaby icon retired four years ago, he’s in the same immaculate physical shape he had during his rugby-playing days.
Playing his first match since 2020, Pocock pulled on a rugby jersey once again in the Jack Fitzgivvon Cup for the Commando Welfare Trust. It’s an organisation which helps provide support for families and friends of the Commando Regiments.
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In a game for all shapes, sizes and ages, Pocock pulled on the 12 jersey, plying his trade at inside centre instead of flanker. Fellow Wallaby icon Will Genia commented: “Mate I can definitely still see you in a gold seven jersey, for real.”
Scroll through Pocock’s photos and videos below.
Pocock retired from international rugby after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, before hanging up his club rugby boots a year later. He spent four years with Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights, where he ended his rugby journey. He’s also played in a Parliament v Veterans game in 2020, which was his last match with the egg-shaped ball, but he’s now freshened the legs once more.
In part of the reason for calling it a day almost five years ago, Pocock explained that he wanted to focus on his conservation efforts, having always been closely connected with nature. He previously oversaw a project in Zimbabwe, his birth country, that aimed to regenerate degraded rangelands and increase biodiversity.
He was elected by the Australian Electoral Commission as the first independent senator in June 2022. His focus is on climate action and territory rights.
As well as supporting nature, Pocock keeps health and fitness as one of his main priorities in post-rugby life. He posts his workouts on social media from time to time, and completed a group workout at Murrumbridge River in Australia earlier this summer.
