Lawes eyes England recall as Saints legend gets set to return to Gallagher PREM
Saints legend Courtney Lawes is eyeing a return to the England squad after agreeing to join Sale Sharks ahead of next season.
On Monday, Lawes’ current club, Brive, announced that the forward would be leaving France this summer to make his return to his homeland.
And on Tuesday, the Saints Academy product’s next destination was confirmed as Sale announced the signing of the 37-year-old on a one-year deal.
“I’m really excited to be joining Sale,” said Lawes, who left Saints for Brive in the summer of 2024.
"I’ve been out of the PREM now for a couple of years and I just want to finish my career playing at a the top level.
"I think Sale have got a brilliant squad so hopefully I can add to that and we’ll see what we can do next year.
“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, give it everything for another season and then we’ll see what happens.”
Lawes, who won two PREM titles with Saints, claiming glory in 2014 and 2024, will be teaming up with Dorian West again as the former black, green and gold coach is now on the Sale management team.
“When I decided I wanted to come back to the PREM there were only a couple of teams I would have signed for,” said Lawes, who previously revealed he had turned down the chance to move to Leicester Tigers. “Obviously Saints because of my history, but Sale were the other one because my wife’s family is all from Cheshire.
“There will be quite a few familiar faces at the club. I’ve played with a lot of the England lads, and Dorian West was my first forwards coach as a professional player.
"I know the club is bringing in some brilliant player for next season too – guys like Joe Marchant and Alex Lozowski will add a lot on and off the field.
“I’m officially unretiring 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.”