Stephen Moore has skippered his last Wallabies Test and has declared this will be his final Test season, with the hooker stepping away from international rugby.
Moore has opted to give up the captaincy immediately and will step down from Test rugby after this year's Spring Tour and will play just one more season of Super Rugby, with Queensland, despite having two years to run on his deal.
Moore, 34, is the second-most capped Wallabies player of all time and captained the team to a World Cup final in 2015.
Currently in the first of that three-year deal with the Reds and the ARU, the Wallabies skipper had set the target of playing in the 2019 tournament, likely becoming the most-capped Wallaby along the way.
Moore's position as captain had already come under intense speculation this season, with the Queenslander playing two Tests off the bench after being overtaken by Force hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau as the form no. 2 in the competition.
His retirement call, though, has shocked plenty, considering he still held a contract with both the QRU and ARU for 2019 and Wallabies coach Michael Cheika had only declared two months ago that Moore was his definitive Test captain.
Michael Hooper seems the obvious option to take up the captaincy, having led the Wallabies in June.
“As of the next Test I will be handing over the captaincy, and will spend the next four months supporting the new leadership team in any way possible," Moore said.
“We have a great bunch of developing leaders like Michael (Hooper), Adam (Coleman), Bernard (Foley), Samu (Kerevi), Allan (Alaalatoa).
"Succession is a really important part of the leadership of any team and we've been working to that end for a number of years and having those discussions for some time.
“I look around the group now and I see plenty of faces that weren’t even in high school when I made my Wallabies debut, and that is exciting for Australian rugby."
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said Moore would still play a significant role in the team.
“Stephen still has a big role to play within the team. This isn't a farewell right now - he's fully committed to getting the gold jersey back to the top this year.
“His contribution to this current team cannot be understated. What he’s achieved on the field is no mean feat but it’s his work off the field in his role as captain of Australia that has really impressed me.
“We now have to make sure we send him off in the best way possible this year,” Cheika said.