Fourie leaves Leeds Carnegie for Sale Sharks

The Premiership club have paid an undisclosed fee for the England international, who becomes the fourth player to leave Leeds for the Manchester outfit after the departures of Kearnan Myall, Luther Burrell and Scott Mathie.

South Africa-born Fourie joined the club four years ago from Rotherham Titans and earned a spot in the England team last year.

Daniel Browne and Juan Gomez have also been released from the remainder of their contracts while Leigh Hinton, Henry Fa’afili, Warren Fury, Alex Black and Jesus Moreno-Rodriquez have not been offered new deals.

Chief executive Gary Hetherington said: “Over the past few seasons we have invested heavily in our squad to compete in the Aviva Premiership and obviously following relegation there will be a rationalising process in terms of numbers.

“Towards the end of the season we focussed on survival. Therefore, we did not enter into any contract negotiations until the end of the season.

“Obviously this is a difficult time for those affected and, whilst there has been some frustration from our own supporters at the lack of announcements, we must do things in the correct manner for the sake of all concerned.

“On behalf of everyone at Leeds Carnegie, we would like to thank all those players who are leaving the club in the summer and we wish them well for the future. In particular, Leigh Hinton and Kearnan Myall, who have both played over 100 games for the club.

Rotherham Titans have signed Palepoi Nonu from Launceston.