Scotland rugby star Greig Laidlaw is set to retire at the end of the season, his Japanese League One second-division side Urayasu D-Rocks announced Wednesday.
The 37-year-old former Scotland captain, capped 76 times, played against Japan in both the 2015 World Cup in England and the 2019 World Cup in Japan before joining Urayasu, then called NTT Communications Shining Arcs, in 2020.
"We intend as a family to stay in Japan a while longer but it is here I will finally hang up my playing boots," Laidlaw wrote on his Instagram post. "It is time to take everything I have learnt, from a playing career I could only have dreamt of, and move on into coaching."
"Playing rugby in Japan has been the most incredible experience. Japanese culture is amazing and to be able to see my children growing up here, watching them learn a new language and adapt to a different way of life is a privilege I will never take for granted."
Laidlaw has played in eight games this season for Urayasu, who have secured a place in the promotion-relegation playoffs against a top-division side.
