His team had just bowed out of a Rugby World Cup quarter final for the fourth time and Ireland captain Keith Wood, the pain etched on his face and with tears in his eyes, fronted up to the television cameras at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome to give his immediate reaction to his side's loss to France.
Little more than an hour later Wood fronted a press conference and revealed his retirement from all forms of rugby, his 32 year old body having had enough with neck and shoulder injuries having kept him out for much of the last year.
“I suppose this is the time. That is it, it is time to hang up the boots, so it is a very sad day today,” admitted Wood, one of the greatest players ever to wear the famous green jersey.
“My heart and my head is willing, but my body has had enough. The injury to the shoulder is an injury waiting to happen and I’ve had someone looking down on me I think.”
The son of former Irish and Lions hooker Gordon, Wood has been on the international scene for nearly a decade, having made his debut against Australia in Brisbane in July 1994 and gone on to win 58 Test caps.
'Rugby has lost a legend'
Wood suffered a career threatening shoulder dislocation in 1995, but epitomising the Irish spirit he returned and has been an inspiration to those around him ever since.
The tributes will undoubtedly pour in for Wood over the coming days, but Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan and his French counterpart Bernard Laporte were quick with their praise in the post match press conferences.
“I think we just lost a legend in the game of rugby. His name will live on. I think we’ve just seen the retirement of a legend,” insisted O’Sullivan.
“He’s been through hell to get here. He was dead twice over [following injuries]. Nobody put more into this World Cup than Keith Wood.
“I’ve always felt he was misjudged. I’ve seen the many sides of Keith Wood. As a rugby player, he pursues his profession and tries to become the best he can.”
Laporte added: “I congratulated him, not just because he is a good player but also because he is a great man. I congratulated him for all he has done for rugby.”
Farewell to 1995 champions
However Wood is not the only player to have called it a day when their side waved goodbye to Rugby World Cup 2003 with Joost van der Westhuizen being another big name to hang up his boots after a quarter final exit.
Van der Westhuizen, South Africa’s most capped player with 89 Tests and top try scorer with 38 in his 10 years on the international scene, is the last member of the Springboks’ victorious Rugby World Cup 1995 team to retire.
“It is not about sadness over the end of my career, but sadness at losing the match and losing the chance to win the Cup,” van der Westhuizen told the press conference after South Africa’s 29-9 loss to New Zealand in Melbourne on Saturday.
Two other players brought the curtain down on their careers following Scotland’s 33-16 defeat by Australia in Brisbane later that day in captain Bryan Redpath and wing Kenny Logan after 60 and 70 Tests respectively.
Scotland swansongs
“It’s hard to swallow on an occasion like this. Today was a great occasion and a great atmosphere. The best team probably won. I’ve had a great 10 years ... I’ve had a wonderful time and I’m happy. Now I’ll try to watch and not criticise!” said Redpath.
However Redpath and Logan were not the only ones in the Scotland camp to retire with assistant coach Jim Telfer retiring and coach Ian McGeechan moving upstairs to replace Telfer as Director of Rugby at the Scottish Rugby Union.
Two other coaches to have bid farewell to the international scene are Bernard Charreyre, the French coach of Romania who retired on a high note after his side's 37-7 defeat of Namibia, and Canada's Australian born David Clark.
Some other great names of world rugby over the last decade had already confirmed their retirements before the serious business of the Rugby World Cup knockout phases began, including Canadian captain Al Charron.
The 76 Test veteran, Canada’s most capped player and at 37 the oldest player involved in Rugby World Cup 2003, Charron only played in his fourth Tournament after recovering from major knee reconstruction in June.
Playing for fun
Now the back row forward is planning something different, playing rugby for fun after 13 years on the international scene.
“I hope to play for the third or fourth side [at my club], playing in the backs, scrum half or fly half or something like that, just have a bit of a laugh and play some non serious rugby … if my body can take it,” Charron told rugbyworldcup.com last month.
“My body is pretty beat up right now, I struggled to get through these games. I feel very much like a 37 year old man with 65 year old legs, so I have got a lot of joy out of rugby, but I have also suffered a bit as far as injuries are concerned.”
Charron's Canadian teammate Bob Ross was, until his retirement after the Canucks bowed out in the Pool stages, the world's longest serving current international having made his debut back in September 1989 against Ireland.
Ross, who finishes with 58 caps to his name, did actually retire in 2000 only to return to the fold at the request of Clark after new fly half Jared Barker was ruled out for six months through injury.
Six of the best
The team to lose the most players though is unquestionably Argentina, the Pumas having seen six forwards retire following their heartbreaking 16-15 defeat by Ireland which ended their hopes of a second successive Rugby World Cup quarter final.
The six are flankers Rolando Martin, who became his country's most capped player during the Tournament, and Santiago Phelan, props Roberto Grau and Mauricio Reggiardo, hooker Federico Mendez and lock Pedro Sporleder.
With two weeks remaining in Rugby World Cup 2003 the number of players bidding farewell to their sport on the greatest stage possible is certain to swell by a few more, after all what better way to go out than with a winners' medal around your neck?