All Black great Ian Jones has announced his retirement from professional rugby.

Earlier in the week it seemed possible that Jones, New Zealand's most-capped lock forward with 79 Tests, might stay on with his English Premiership club Gloucester but he is now to give up the game.

Jones joined Gloucester a year and a half ago, after the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

The man nicknamed the "Kamo Kid" after his home village in New Zealand said today: "I have had two really fantastic years at the club, but I feel that now is the right time for me to finish and
go back home with my family.

"This is a purely rugby orientated decision. I have always played rugby for enjoyment, I have never really considered it a job and I don't want to continue just for the sake of it. I love the game with a passion but I only want to play it for the right reasons."

Philippe Saint Andre, Gloucester's director of rugby, said: "I am very sad to see him go. He is a great player on the pitch and a great person off it. I have enjoyed working with him for the last two years immensely.

"I think the players and supporters will miss him but we must respect his decision. At 34 he feels this is the right decision to make. I know the supporters all loved him and I am sure he will always be welcome here. For my part I will always make him a guest at my house."

Jones will bring the curtain down on his career when he represents the Barbarians on their tour of England, Wales and Scotland later this month.

"I think this is a fitting way for me to finish," he said. "The Barbarians is another club I have been lucky enough to be involved with. They have such a strong tradition and great history."

Jones played in all but one of Gloucester's Premiership matches after he joined in season 1999-2000, helping the Kingsholm club to third place - their best finish in home-and-away league rugby - and a first qualification for the Heineken Cup, in which they reached the semi-finals.

But a brief spell as skipper ended when the captaincy reverted to his Welsh namesake, Kingsley Jones.

Ian Jones, who turned 34 on 17 April, was born in Kamo, a rural spot close to the coast on New Zealand's north island. He captained Northland early in his career, and the Waikato Chiefs in Super 12, but the All Blacks only once, in a midweek match on tour in South Africa.

Jones ended his Test career just one cap short of Willie John McBride's world record for a lock.