A CURTAIN is being drawn on one of the most illustrious and successful rugby union careers in the history of the sport. Michael Lynagh has decided to call it a day.

The great Australian will see out the rest of the season with Saracens, then finally hang up the kicking boots which have, quite literally, changed the rugby world forever.

But for his dependable touch, it is doubtful Australia would ever have risen to become quite the force they did at the time of the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

All truly great sides have a great kicker working within the intricate machinery that can take 15 men to the highest echelons of sporting achievement.

Think of the most recent examples: Springbok Joel Stransky, Kiwis Grant Fox and Andrew Mehrtens, Lion Neil Jenkins and even the redoubtable Rob Andrew for England.

None have scored as many international points as Lynagh - 911 in all. How many have captained their country while having a Rugby World Cup winner's medal sitting on the sideboard?

Michael Patrick Lynagh has achieved all there is to in the game, with one exception.

There is an Allied Dunbar Premiership winner's medal with his name on it waiting at the end of this hard, professional season and it is desire which will drive him for the next few months.

"There is still one more continent to conquer," said Lynagh at a press conference in London's swish Rugby Club to announce the worst-kept secret in rugby on Wednesday.

As the press gathered to hear the final words of the great man, the fly-half's grim determination to make a complete and binding cut from his playing days was all too clear.

"I have made up my mind to stop playing rugby and, when I make up my mind, I stick to it," he said.

He has decided to make his home in this country for the foreseeable future with his wife, Isabella.

At 34 years old, new doors are opening for him. He has accepted a job with property investment company Prestbury Group in the West End and the financial future is looking rosy.

He has no immediate plans to do any rugby coaching, although said if he was invited to do so, he would gladly help out.

His main input into the club with which he will record his rugby swansong will be "as a supporter, and a very keen one at that".

Saracens signed Lynagh at the beginning of last season, fresh from Treviso in Italy, where he had taken the side to the national championship.

Already retired from international rugby, many pundits challenged the wisdom of taking on a player clearly in the twilight of his career.

One man completely convinced of Lynagh's value to his fast-emerging side was club owner Nigel Wray, who said: "When Michael signed for Saracens, what he did in one fell stroke was put us on the map.

"Before that, all we had was a feeding ground for the bigger clubs. Michael lit the touch paper for the new Saracens. Him joining us made it easier for other players to come to the club."

Lynagh's arrival at Bramley Road, Enfield, Sarries' training home, made an immediate impact, with great players Philippe Sella and Francois Pienaar following.

This season has seen Lynagh in top class form once more, putting together perhaps his finest run of games since leaving his homeland.

With five tries to his name among his 161 points from ten matches, his hot streak has helped take Saracens close to the top of the tree.

With expert marshalling of the troops outside him and a destructive line in tactical kicking, he will be hard to replace.

"I was a little bit disappointed with my own game last year and I know everyone in the club was disappointed with the way we played," Lynagh said.

"But this year we have come close on a couple of occasions to playing to our potential. The size of the last three home crowds have given us the indication that we are going in the right direction."

Lynagh retired from international rugby at the end of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, ending a glittering career which began against Fiji in 1984.

Among the many highlights he encountered along the way, he most fondly remembers a try he scored in the dying moments of the quarter final against Ireland in the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

"I made the decision to give up playing international rugby and I haven't regretted it at all," he said.

"The main reason for my decision now is that I am interested in pursuing other avenues. I have been playing top level rugby since 1982, so I think it is time to go and be successful at something else."

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