The Bloemfontein-bred Dry played in 74 tournaments for the Blitzboks, and this is the second-most by a South African, following the 75 by another player who made a turn in the Free State, Branco du Preez.

Dry, who also captained the Free State in the Currie Cup, told OFM Sport that he has no regrets.

“It's been quite a journey. It's been 12 years playing in the world series and I have been fortunate enough to be a part of it.

“It was a tough decision coming off a Covid year and not being able to play and then basically getting one opportunity before calling it.

“I said to everyone here that I leave with a happy heart and very fortunate and blessed to have been able to play for such a long time. Most people dream of getting two to three seasons in the Springbok Sevens setup and I managed to get 12 years.

“I've got no regrets and I think the time has come that I should look to the future and look at the next options. You can only play rugby for so long and I want to leave the sport with my head held high and happy with my performance and I think that the time is now.

“As a rugby player, you always think that you have one more year in the tank. My head was spinning around the World Cup here in Cape Town and that you have been nice. Again, it's all about opportunity and opportunity for the new guys. There are a lot of exciting youngsters coming through. The system needs to go on and we need to build on for the next generation of players.”

Dry’s career saw him winning the Sevens World Series on two occasions, winning the Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow and as recently as last week he played in the Olympics.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport