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The former England captain Courtney Lawes is returning to the Prem to join Sale at the end of the season after two years at French club Brive.
The 37-year-old retired from international rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup and made the move to France after winning the 2023-24 Premiership title with Northampton Saints.
Sale confirmed on Tuesday that he would be moving to the north-west of England with his return making him eligible again for international duty.
Lawes said: “I’m really excited to be joining Sale. “My body feels good and I’m still performing at a high level. I feel like I can compete with the best of them, and then some, and I think if I retired now, I’d probably regret it when I was older.
“As a rugby player, you’ve got a very finite career and you’re a long time retired so I want to make the most of it while I can. I’m officially un-retiring from international duty and I’d love to play for England again but first and foremost I want to play well for Sale and we’ll see what happens after that.”
Alex Sanderson, Sale Sharks director of rugby, added: “Courtney is robust, dynamic around the park and he hits hard, but he has a fantastic skillset that means he’s so much more than just a banger.
“Rugby is a small world and if you’re a good bloke, you work hard, you’re honest, and bring energy to a club, that goes around and that’s exactly what you hear about Courtney.
“He wants to bring people with him and lead from the front and I love that. Plus he’s captained England and knows what it’s like to play and win on the biggest stage.”
Lawes spent 17 years at Saints, winning two Premiership titles and two Challenge Cup trophies. He won 105 caps and three Six Nations titles for England. Lawes also represented his country in four Rugby World Cups, finishing runners up in the 2019 tournament and third in 2023. Brive have said the club wished the flanker would finish his career with them but “understands Lawes’ desire to seize a new challenge”.
Brive’s president, Thierry Blandinières, said: “We are very proud to say that Courtney Lawes will have been a Brive player for two seasons. He arrived here with humility and ambition and has shown the full extent of his talent since his first day in Brive. He gave everything for the club and he will continue to give everything until the end of his adventure in black and white.”
Lawes added: “I’m going to give it my all until the end of the season to finish this adventure with CAB [Club Athlétique Brive] in the best possible way. My family and I have been very warmly welcomed in Corrèze and we will always have Brive at heart.”
