No Moore for retiring ex-Wallabies captain
  Story By Darren Walton     

Saturday, 18 November 2017: Stephen Moore has played under five different Test coaches and the former Wallabies captain is on the verge of ending his international playing career.

After surviving 12 years, soon to be 129 Tests, thousands of scrums and five vastly different coaches, Wallabies World Cup captain Stephen Moore is finally hanging up his boots.

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Australia's most-capped hooker will bring down the curtain on a record-breaking international career at the very ground where he earned his starting debut against Scotland way back in 2006.

But, as fitting as his Murrayfield swan song next Saturday, the 34-year-old also gets one last crack at England and Eddie Jones, the coach who handed a rookie Moore his first cap against Samoa more than a decade ago.

Moore is the only member of the Wallabies' class of 2017 who played for his country under Jones and the veteran can't help but wonder how his career may have unfolded had it started - instead of finished - under Michael Cheika.

The front-rower credits Jones with instilling in him the necessary professionalism to survive so long in Test rugby, but believes Cheika and former Wallabies assistant coach Michael Foley have been more influential.

"Eddie was my first coach and I learned a lot about discipline and work ethic and how you train and eat," Moore said as he savoured his final days in a gold jumper.

"I was young so I was very wide-eyed about the whole thing. That was my first taste of international rugby.

"Michael Foley would probably have had the biggest (influence). He was coaching me when I was first coming through and playing regularly.

"That was a first jump from being part of the squad to being starting hooker. He was a hooker himself so there was a lot he could help me with as well. I always enjoyed playing under him.

"And I've got someone like 'Cheik' now who I've been working with at the end of my career and I've learned a lot from him about leadership and how to be a leader, communicate and motivate.

"That's been invaluable for me personally and something I've enjoyed.

"You go through different things at different stages of your career. If I had Eddie now, it might be different."

In between Jones and Cheika, Moore learned from John Connolly, Robbie Deans and Ewen McKenzie.

"Knuckles (Connolly) would tell you things at the strangest time," Moore said.

"He'd walk in an elevator with you and he'd say something like: 'You'll probably start this week,' and then get out."

Eager to spend more time with his wife and three children, Moore won't miss the endless travel.

But he will miss the buzz of playing for his country on the sport's biggest stages.

"The milestone games are the ones you remember," he said.

"The first one was huge. I was only 22 at the time and hadn't been around the Wallabies set-up, hadn't played a lot of Super Rugby.

"My 50th was in Bloemfontein (against South Africa) where we hadn't won there in a long time and did so from the last kick of the game.

"The 100th Test was in the World Cup (quarter-finals) against Scotland and that was dramatic too. Those sort of games you remember fondly."

Moore trails only fellow former skipper George Gregan (139 Tests) on the list of most-capped Wallabies.

The Test against England at Twickenham on Saturday marks Moore's 128th appearance for the Wallabies and puts him ahead of Victor Matfield into seventh on the list of all-time international matches played.

Moore announced in July he would retire at the end of this year's Spring Tour and with the same statement he relinquished his captaincy.

He said at the time he had been trying to convince himself he could play on and contribute at the 2019 World Cup in Canberra, but it eventually dawned on him he should call it quits, due to the level of commitment needed.

Australia's most capped Super Rugby player, Moore, who was born in Saudi Arabia to Irish parents, is due to finish his domestic career in 2018 after one more Super Rugby season with Queensland Reds.

The former Brumbies captain left the Reds for Canberra in 2009, before returning to Queensland ahead of the 2017 season.






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