Courtney Lawes to Join Sale Sharks in 2026
Courtney Lawes is not done yet. Not with the Premiership. Not with England. Not with the big occasions that have defined a career stretching across four Rugby World Cups and two Lions tours.
At 37, the England and British & Irish Lions forward has agreed a one-year deal to join Sale Sharks from the start of the 2026/27 season, a move that drags one of the defining figures of the professional era back into the heart of English rugby.
This is not a farewell lap. It reads like a last, deliberate charge.
A heavyweight career, one last English chapter
Lawes arrives at Sale with a CV that belongs in the game’s elite.
- 105 caps for England over 14 years.
- Four World Cups.
- Five Lions caps across two tours.
Domestically, he became synonymous with Northampton Saints. Almost 300 appearances for his boyhood club, the long-limbed enforcer who grew into their captain and, in 2024, finally lifted the Gallagher Premiership trophy again after a decade-long wait. That final against Bath, a hard-edged, emotional afternoon, proved to be his last outing in Saints’ green and gold before he left for Brive and a new life in the south of France.
Two seasons on, the pull of home – and of one more crack at the Premiership – has dragged him back across the Channel. Sale’s “Northern Force” will have a new standard-bearer.
“I’ve been out of the Prem now for a couple of years and I just want to finish my career playing at the top level,” Lawes said. “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.”
The body, he insists, is still willing.
“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.”
That line tells you plenty. This is a player who knows exactly how finite a rugby career is and refuses to drift quietly towards retirement.
“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.”
Why Sale, why now?
When Lawes decided he wanted back in, his shortlist was brutally narrow.
“When I decided I wanted to come back to the Prem there were only a couple of teams I would have signed for. Obviously Saints because of my history, but Sale were the other one because my wife’s family is all from Cheshire.”
So geography plays its part, but this is not just a family decision. It is a rugby decision.
Sale, beaten finalists in 2023 and a club intent on establishing themselves as regular contenders, are assembling a squad that looks built for a title tilt. Lawes will walk into a dressing room stacked with England internationals and familiar faces. He namechecks them himself.
“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.”
This is a side with an edge, now adding a player who has lived his entire career on the collision line.
Sanderson’s kind of player
Sale Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson did not try to hide his enthusiasm. Lawes fits the identity he has tried to carve out in the North West.
“Courtney is the kind of player and person that suits this club. He’s 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.”
That last point matters. Lawes built his early reputation on thunderous tackles and big collisions, but his late-career evolution into a calm, ball-playing leader – capable at lock or in the back row – made him indispensable to both club and country.
“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,” Sanderson added. “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.”
From Sanderson’s point of view, this is about more than what Lawes can do on a Saturday afternoon. It is about standards, about presence, about a player who has seen and done almost everything.
“I can’t wait to see him train and play with us, but from a coaching perspective I’m really looking forward to working with someone I’ve heard so many good things about.
“Courtney believes in what we’re doing and wants to be part of the club. He’s coming back to try and win trophies and play international rugby again and he believes he can do that with us.
“It’s another sign of the intent of the club and the passion and commitment of the owners to really put Sale on the map.”
England door reopens
The twist in this story sits beyond the Premiership. Lawes is not just returning to club rugby. He is, in his own words, “officially un-retiring” from international duty.
“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.”
The message to Steve Borthwick is clear: if the standards are right at Sale, if the body holds, Lawes wants back in. His leadership, versatility and experience of knockout rugby remain rare commodities.
He will arrive in Manchester as a 37-year-old with miles on the clock, but also with a title-winning season at Saints still fresh in the memory and a belief that he can “compete with the best of them, and then some.”
Sale are betting that he can. Lawes is betting that one more season at the sharp end might yet deliver silverware – and perhaps one last England jersey.
