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

South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff has announced his retirement from all rugby because of a serious neck injury that he said in an interview last year left him “two millimeters” from death.

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,