Dan Cole retires a titan who will be remembered for resilience over highlights
When looking back on the rugby life and times of Dan Cole, what is most striking is that, after almost two decades at the front-row coal face, after the triumphs, trophies and truculence, it was something entirely intangible which stands tall above all else. It is the 38-year-old's resilience; or, to borrow a sporting cliché, his bouncebackability.
The veteran Leicester and England tighthead will retire at the end of the season, but, when recalling his career, it is not necessarily the highs that immediately spring to mind. It is often overlooked, given his Leicester debut came in 2007, that he burst onto the scene as English rugby's most dynamic, rounded prop. It was his mauling of then England loosehead Tim Payne against Wasps which led to a first Test cap in 2010, at the age of 23 – tender for an international tighthead. But it is easy to forget how, at one time or another, he jackalled as effectively as England's back row, too.
DRC in numbers. 🐻❄️ pic.twitter.com/uKwu16pxm3
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 27, 2025
Another 339 appearances – with, probably, a few more to come this season – for the Tigers ensued, as well as four Premiership titles. Cole wore those renowned East Midlands stripes having grown up a dyed-in-the-wool Tiger, playing his junior rugby – mostly in the back row – for the neighbouring grass-roots club, South Leicester. From those muddy pitches, a brilliant career for both England and the Lions followed; Cole made 118 appearances for England and won three Test caps for the British and Irish Lions.
And yet, it was arguably the nadir of Cole's playing career which is most vividly remembered by English rugby fans. Cole was known as a destructive scrummager – ask Tom Court and the rest of the Irish front row who featured in the 2012 Six Nations – but in Yokohama, as Cole trotted off the bench early in the 2019 World Cup final, the tighthead was chewed up and spat out by a South African juggernaut hell-bent on global hegemony.
Cole did not feature for his country again under then head coach Eddie Jones, believing his international career to be over while attempting to convalesce the deepest of emotional wounds and scars. But it is a measure of Cole's durability and work ethic that he returned to his club and continued to give his all for a boyhood cause.
When Steve Borthwick replaced the sacked Jones as England head coach at the end of 2022, Cole sniffed a second chance. It was Cole, after all, who had been the cornerstone of the Leicester pack which, under Borthwick, had lifted the Premiership title a season earlier. With Borthwick from Leicester went Richard Wigglesworth, Kevin Sinfield and Aled Walters, the fitness guru – all of whom knew Cole well.
When the inevitable England recall came, it was Walters who convinced Cole to take on the role of Stone Cold in England training, with the veteran re-enacting Steve Austin's famous wrestling entrance (replacing beer with water) to his team-mate's delight and social media acclaim.
STONE COLD DAN COLE.
Elite content via @JoeMarler on Instagram! #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/PqOOCqL0h3
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) September 21, 2023
Whether Cole yearned for personal retribution after 2019 is not fully known; he is a unique, droll character who often kept his cards close to his chest, instead opting for wise-cracks. Regardless, there was symbolic retribution four years on.
The image of him trotting off in the 56th minute of the 2023 World Cup semi-final alongside Joe Marler, his great mate, having held resolutely in the face of his demons from four years previous, a Springbok scrummaging onslaught, will stay with all those who were in the Stade de France that evening for a long time. England went on to lose, but Cole must surely have slept easy that night, after a standing ovation from the England fans in Paris, knowing he could have given no more to the cause.
Cole retires as a tighthead titan and a Leicester legend alongside a cabal of his former England team-mates, in a season that has become a curtain call of sorts for English rugby. Cole, Marler, Ben Youngs – alongside whom Cole has established the successful For the Love of Rugby podcast – Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Danny Care and Alex Goode are all now hanging up their boots.
The final chapter 📖 pic.twitter.com/okkDIW9Hd1
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 27, 2025
'Overall, I have loved my career but I haven't loved every minute,' Cole said. 'That has allowed me to appreciate the good times even more. However, when I do look back on it properly at the end, I know I won't want to change anything about it.'
Those words from the man himself are telling. Tuesday was a poignant day for Cole, as well as those close to him, yet, as ever with this great Midlands yeoman, we can be sure that, whatever the next move, brightness lies ahead. History can reassure us of that.
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