Former England captain Courtney Lawes will leave Premiership leaders Northampton at the end of the season to join Brive due to a “transformational offer” from the French side.
Lawes, 35, has spent his entire 17 seasons in senior rugby with his hometown side and had previously said he wanted to remain a one-club man.
But, having called time on his 105-cap England career after last year’s World Cup in France, a lucrative move to the French second-tier club has proved too strong to resist for the back-five forward.
“I want to make it clear that I really would have liked to end my career as a one-club man, and Saints did absolutely everything they possibly could to make that happen – our conversations were all very positive,” Lawes said in a club statement on Friday.
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“But, first and foremost, I have to make sure that my family and I are in the best position possible for my retirement, which will be in the next couple of years.”
Lawes, who has also played five Tests for the British & Irish Lions, added: “This is likely to be the last contract I’ll ever sign, and the offer I have received to play overseas will be transformational for my family, so there was no way I could turn it down and I took the decision to move away from Northampton.”
Lawes, who has played 274 matches for Northampton, is following a number of other England internationals in making the switch to France, including fellow former England skipper Owen Farrell, who is joining Top 14 side Racing 92 next season.
© Agence France-Presse
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