Former Wallaby back Graeme Bond has retired from rugby because of a neck injury suffered while playing for English club Sale.

Bond, 30, last played for Sale in March when he was taken from the field on a stretcher with a "stinger" injury to his neck.

"I have two protruding discs near my spinal cord and the risk of playing again is not worth taking," he said.

The former NSW and ACT centre and winger played five Tests for Australia from 2001.

A neck injury has also put the career of another former Wallaby centre, Daniel Herbert, in doubt.

Herbert has not played all season for his French club Perpignan after suffering a slipped disc in his neck.

During surgery, a nerve was stretched, leaving the 1999 World Cup winner and 67-Test veteran with a partially "dead" arm.

Herbert, 30, will make a decision on his future when he sees a specialist in Bordeaux next month.

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