TWO-TIME WORLD Cup winner Steven Kitshoff has been forced to retire from rugby due to a serious neck injury, his club Stormers have announced.
A statement on the club website explains that Kitshoff suffered the injury in a Carling Currie Cup match for DHL Western Province last year.
“After undergoing initial conservative therapy, the decision was taken to have stabilising surgery,” the statement continues.
“Following an extensive rehabilitation process he has been left with significantly reduced rotation of his neck and the advice from a specialist neurosurgeon was that there would be a high risk of another injury should he continue playing.”
The 33-year-old ends his career with 138 caps for the DHL Stormers and 83 appearances for South Africa Springboks. He won back-to-back World Cups in 2019 and 2023, as well as a series against the British and Irish Lions. He signed for Ulster in 2022 before returning to Stormers at the end of the 2024 season.
Kitshoff, who was first called into the DHL Stormers squad as an 18-year-old, required special permission to train with the seniors at that age.
He went on to make his DHL Stormers debut in 2011 before earning his first Springbok cap in 2016.
The end of an era. What a journey it has been with @StevenKitshoff 🩶💙
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) February 25, 2025
Full announcement https://t.co/vuluraHUsm#iamastormer #kitsie pic.twitter.com/sLFKRNkVIP
“Playing rugby has been my life from a young age and I was lucky enough to live the dream of many young boys by representing the Springboks and the DHL Stormers,” Kitshoff said following the announcement of his retirement.
“It is obviously incredibly disappointing for my career to end in this way, but unfortunately the risk to my wellbeing was simply too high.
“I really wanted to finish my story with the DHL Stormers on the pitch and gave the rehab and comeback the best shot I could, but it was not to be.
“There are so many people who have provided incredible support for me over the years, not least my wife Aimee and my parents. I will always be grateful to all of the coaches, teammates and support staff at both the DHL Stormers and SA Rugby and of course the fans who have had such a big impact on my career.
“As much as I will miss playing and the special feeling of running out to represent something much bigger than myself, I am also looking forward to an exciting new chapter in my life.
“I’ll be there at DHL Stadium cheering the boys on, just like I did as a youngster. I walk away from my playing days with so many incredible memories that I will cherish forever.”
Generally speaking the better intercounty players and teams have always been well looked after work wise, but this is a significant step in the right direction for more to be done throughout. Good stuff.
You have prob the top 5 to 10 players in both codes in the country who have a profile that can be monetised in terms of sponsorship etc Then you have a layer of maybe another 40 to 60 of the bigger counties that benefit in one way or another in terms of securing work etc. However hopefully schemes like this bring benefit to a broader base. It’s interesting that it took the gpa to bring in outside charitable funding to support this, why couldn’t the gaa themselves think of a more self sustaining form of funding.