WATCH: The time retiring David Denton destroyed Richie McCaw
29-year-old David Denton has announced his retirement today on advice given on medical grounds. The former Scotland and Edinburgh back row struggled with concussions over the past few years and the back row said that it had been on his mind for four to five months now.
In tribute to the back row, we thought that we would share this fantastic clip of Denton absolutely destroying All Black Richie McCaw. Rumours are that McCaw was never quite right after this nuclear hit and there are even stronger rumour that the 38-year-old refuses to travel to Scotland anymore because of this hit.
Denton, made a name for himself in the late noughties for his massive hits and high workrate for the men in blue. This hit on McCaw earned him that tag.
In 2014, there was a massive hype around the Zimbabwean-born international so it is a shame to see how unlucky he has been with these injuries.
Denton won the first of 42 caps for Scotland in the run-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was signed by Tigers in the summer of 2018 as an aggressive ball-carrier and physical defender but he had made only six appearances – winning the season’s opening Player of the Month award – before his injury.
Sad to see @dentweezy having to hang up the boots. However, health comes first and I’m sure his lovely wife will welcome him being around little Logan a bit more. Can’t wait to have a partner in crime around Edinburgh enjoying life after rugby! pic.twitter.com/1VHOIuC3qx
— Tim Visser (@timbovisser) September 16, 2019
We will always enjoy this hit by Denton on McCaw. We’ve watched it about 16 times this morning already.
If you haven’t had enough of Denton yet, then we suggest that you watch this brilliant compilation that was put together by AR Rugby on YouTube.
Oh how Scotland could have benefited from his massive hits with the size of their current back row.
Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy said: “It is incredibly bad news for the club and, obviously, for David that he is unable to continue playing.
“He was seen as a key part of the squad here and we were looking forward to seeing him continue to develop in the future.
“We are all involved in rugby because we love playing the game, but sometimes that has to take second place to other priorities and Dents has been advised to retire for the good of his own future and that of his family.”
