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Juan Imhoff has retired from professional rugby. The great winger from Rosario hangs up his boots at the age of 36, doing so after a stellar career breaking records both while wearing Los Pumas and Racing 92 jerseys. He has left the possibility open of a return to play for Duendes in Rosario.
Imhoff retires from professional rugby after thirteen seasons playing in the elite for Racing 92 in the Top 14. He moved from his native Rosario to Paris following Rugby World Cup 2011. He made 259 appearances for Racing 92 scoring 112 tries. He scored his 100th try for Racing 92 in 2022 and is the all-time top try scorer by any Argentine in the Top 14.
His long career at Racing 92 involved glory in the 2015-2016 season. Racing 92 won the French Top 14 Final, beating Toulon 29-21 in front of a world-record attendance for a club match. The final was played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. Imhoff was joined by fellow Rosario Puma Manuel Carizza. Juan Martin Fernández Lobbe featured for Toulon.
Imhoff, Carizza and Fernandez Lobbe were teammates for Los Pumas at Imhoff’s first Rugby World Cup in 2011. Imhoff scored tries against Romania and Georgia in the tournament. He scored two against both Georgia and Ireland at Rugby World Cup 2015 and also scored against Tonga. They make him Argentina’s leading try scorer at Rugby World Cups.
In total, Imhoff scored 17 test tries for Argentina in 43 test matches. He arguably ought to have scored more as politics stood in the way during the Jaguares years. Selections from 2016-2019 went from blocking players based abroad to heavily favoring those at home. Indeed, Imhoff was inexplicably left out of Rugby World Cup 2019.
He returned in 2020 for Argentina to make history. He was a part of the team that became the first Pumas side in history to defeat New Zealand. Two years on he scored in Argentina’s win over Australia in 2022 and was selected for Rugby World Cup 2023 where he played against Chile.
His pathway from Duendes to the elite in France involved playing for Los Pampas XV in South Africa’s Vodacom Cup. He was the top try scorer in 2011 with 10 tries and was selected from there to face Wales in a Rugby World Cup warm-up.
Imhoff’s professional career began after that tournament. Racing 92 helped develop him into the star that shone so brightly in the Top 14. Los Pumas gained greatly with Imhoff going to be make history against South Africa. Argentina’s historic first-ever win over the Springboks saw Imhoff becoming the first player in history to score a hat-trick against South Africa. No other player before or since has scored three tries in a match against South Africa.
Imhoff’s double against Ireland at the World Cup several months later saw Argentina eliminating the Irish and advancing to the Semi Finals. The 43-20 victory was a record win by Argentina over Ireland. Imhoff was on the world stage again in 2016 for Argentina as he competed in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
