South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff announced his retirement from all rugby Tuesday because of a serious neck injury that he said in an interview last year left him “two millimeters” from death. Kitshoff made the announcement in a statement from his South African domestic team,

Double South Africa World Cup-winning prop Steven Kitshoff is forced to retire because of a serious neck injury.

He had hoped to return to the pitch in 2025 but has been left with reduced rotation of his neck, making the risk of re-injury high, and Kitshoff has now been forced to retire on medical advice. The prop won 83 caps for South Africa and was a key part of the 2019 and 2023 World Cup-winning squads,