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José Manuel Diosa retired from international duty on Sunday. The Colombian captain did so in style as Los Tucanes completed a Grand Slam title in the Americas Rugby Challenge (ARCh).
Diosa would hang up his boots after 95 appearances for Los Tucanes with the final of which being his 28th test cap. In his final appearance on Sunday he would kick 14 points as he converted seven tries in Colombia’s 54-15 win over Paraguay.
He had been playing for his country since the age of 20 in 2009. His retirement may be seen as premature by some though there are no boxes that Diosa did not tick as he saw first hand the booming progress of Los Tucanes.
Retirement comes with Colombia now back-to-back Grand Slam winners in the ARCh; having a place in the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A; and a match in 2020 to determine promotion to the Americas Rugby Championsship. These are nothing short of remarkable breakthroughs for Colombia who previously was restricted to annual matches against Peru, and Venezuela.
In all Diosa scored 367 points in his 28 test match appearances. Included were 18 tries making him Colombia’s second highest try scorer on record. He is also the second most capped player.
While his playing days have concluded his involvement in rugby is far from over. The final chapter is very far away involving Diosa and rugby.
