"Still got it" - John Afoa makes stunning return to rugby aged 39

The standout moment of the match was Afoa's inclusion in the starting lineup, just two days after his arrival from France.

Coach Scott Robertson urgently called upon Afoa due to the absence of three injured All Blacks players, Joe Moody, George Bower, and Fletcher Newell, who will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

Having previously played for the Blues, Afoa hadn't participated in a Super Rugby game since 2011. Remarkably, at the age of 39 years and 223 days, he became the oldest player in the competition's history.

With a total of 496 first-class games under his belt, a significant portion of which were played for European clubs such as Ulster, Gloucester, and Bristol, Afoa expressed his eagerness to seize the opportunity to play for the Crusaders.

“When the call came, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Crusaders or the Blues, I was just keen to come home and play in front of New Zealanders and my family,” he told broadcaster Sky Sport.

“The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind but it’s been amazing. I don’t have many moons left in my career, this is probably the last year of my career.”

Oxford Harlequins welcomed the former premiership record try scorer who will take on a dual role combining his rugby management career with his exceptional rugby talent.

Varndell has agreed to assume the position of Head of Rugby at Oxford Brookes University, which has close links to Oxford Harlequins.

In addition to his management role, he will also become the Head of Community at the club, while still playing for the team.

Marcus Boswell, the student sport manager at Oxford Brookes had the following to say about their star capture;

The former Ireland and Lions flanker returned to Leinster, this summer, to take up a coaching role with a side he won multiple league and European titles with O'Brien.

However, he just couldn't stay retired, making his rugby comeback with Naas RFC.

O'Brien had been seeking to play for his club, Tullow, when he returned from his professional rugby stint in England, with London Irish.

That move to a junior-level side was prevented when the domestic level section of the Leinster Rugby branch stated it would be going against safety guidelines for a just retired professional to immediately drop down to play at that level.

Simpson joined seventh tier Old Priorians in February, and made his debut for the Saints the following weekend against London Sussex.

The scrum-half - who made 230 appearances for Wasps in the Premiership (along with spells for Gloucester, Bath and Sale) and played for England at the 2011 World Cup - retired from the professional game in December 2022 and follows his brother Michael in pulling on the OPs shirt.

England legend and World Cup winner Tindall plays a selection of matches for Minchinhampton, the club close to his home.  

The centre played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won the 2003 World Cup.

The Wales legend made a return to Welsh rugby in 2017, coming out of retirement to play for his beloved Amman United. The former Wales and British Lions star stunned spectators as he took the field for his home town side in the National League 3 West B match against Burry Port. He then played for them in a final at the Millenium Stadium. He's since played a further handful of games for the club.