Six Nations: France captain Raphael Ibanez will announce the end of his international career today, sources close to the Wasps hooker said.

"Raphael will give a press conference in Dax tomorrow, he will talk about his future as an international player and is set to call it a day," the sources said yesterday.

Ibanez (34) has 98 caps, a record for an international hooker and is a veteran of three World Cups. He was born and learned his rugby in Dax, south of Bordeaux.

He made his first appearance for his country on March 16th, 1996, against Wales, and his last when he was handed a yellow card and did not retake the field during the third-place play-off which France lost to Argentina at last year's World Cup.

His also won four Five and Six Nations championships, including two grand slams and a European Cup with Wasps.

Basketball was Ibanez's first sport but he turned to rugby when he was 17 because he failed to grow tall enough. Six years later he won his first cap and took over the captaincy the next season.

Ibanez led France to consecutive grand slams in 1997 and 1998 and to the final of the 1999 World Cup. France lost to Australia after a memorable semi-final win over the All Blacks.

Then came a first big disappointment. Shortly after he became national coach, Bernard Laporte dropped Ibanez as captain and did not regard him even as his first-choice hooker.

Ibanez, however, clawed his way back, making the most of his speed, skills and intelligence to compensate for his modest size of 1.78 metres and 98 kg.

He was back in favour for the 2003 World Cup and started in the semi-final defeat by England.

On the plane back to France, he announced his retirement from international rugby to team manager Jo Maso, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and enjoy playing with his new club, London Saracens.

Two years later, rejuvenated by a move to the more demanding London Wasps, he came out of retirement for a November Test against Canada.

Ibanez is the third member of the World Cup team to quit international rugby after Fabien Pelous and wing Christophe Dominici.