Rugby’s greatest beard retires to take up life as a doctor

Geoff Cross aims to scare away disease and pestilence with his hirsute appearance.

There is a gap in the market for the greatest beard in rugby following the retirement of the Scottish prop. The 33-year-old, who played 40 times for his country, had a club career that included stints with Edinburgh, Glasgow and London Irish. He moved to the Exiles in 2014 but injury and Test outings restricted him to 15 appearances over two seasons. Cross has studied medicine extensively over the past 14 years but took a sizeable gap in his studies to pursue rugby. He has now set his sights on working as a doctor within the next 12 months. In a statement, Cross declared:

"Representing my country was the pinnacle of my career and to have played 40 times for Scotland fills me with immense pride. I feel very privileged to have fulfilled a lifetime ambition and to have made memories, which will last a lifetime."

Cross' final game for Scotland was the 40-10 defeat that secured Ireland the 2015 Six Nations title. But enough of his playing days. Cross' fantastic beard was all the talk [among beard lovers] during the 2014/15 season. It was more mountain than man. He shaved it off in March 2015 and raised £10,000 for children's charity Wooden Spoon. At the time, he remarked, "My wife is really pleased it's going. It has been a long-suffering year for my long-suffering wife." We'll miss Geoff but we miss that beard more. The 'Best Beard' title now goes to Josh Strauss... he's the one on the right. Top work sir.