Australia captain Stephen Moore to rejoin Reds from Brumbies

Australia captain Stephen Moore is to leave the Brumbies at the end of the 2016 Super Rugby season and rejoin his former side the Queensland Reds.

The 32-year-old hooker has played 102 matches for the Brumbies, having joined in 2009, and he was named captain in 2015.

And Brumbies chief executive Michael Jones has expressed his disappointment at Moore's decision.

Jones told the Brumbies website: "We are exceedingly disappointed about today's announcement that Stephen Moore will leave the Brumbies at the end of 2016.

"(Coach) Stephen Larkham and I worked extremely hard to create a deal that was acceptable to Moore and his agent.

"We were given a deadline and moved heaven and earth to satisfy that deadline, including late night calls to South Africa where Moore was holidaying.

"After speaking with Stephen personally, he spoke passionately about wanting to remain a Brumbie and pleaded with us to come up with an offer to meet his demands and counter offers from Europe.

"He clearly expressed the desire to stay in Canberra, to extend his career through to the next Rugby World Cup, and ultimately finish his career here.

"We met every one of those demands, so we were surprised and disappointed to find out he has agreed to join the Reds."

Coach Larkham added: "Moore will return to training with the Brumbies on 4 January and will play a key role in our bid for the 2016 Super Rugby title.

"It's disappointing that he has chosen to leave, but we now have to begin planning for a suitable replacement.

"We have great depth in the hooker position with Wallaby representative Josh Mann-Rea and the up-and-coming Robbie Abel.

"New recruit Albert Anae can also play hooker and has trained in that position for the Wallabies."