Owen Farrell could have played his last game for England after French club Racing 92 confirmed that he will join them next season.
The Saracens fly-half and captain will link up with the Parisians from July 1 on a two-year deal.
It will bring to an end his long and successful Saracens career that began in 2008 and has been littered with European and Premiership titles.
Farrell, 32, had already announced that he would miss this season’s Guinness Six Nations in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being.
And he will become ineligible for international selection when he moves to France due to Rugby Football Union rules that do not permit players who ply their trade abroad to be selected for the national team.
His last England appearance was the World Cup bronze medal match against Argentina in Paris on October 27, which England won narrowly.
Racing are coached by Stuart Lancaster, who gave Farrell his Test debut in 2012 when he was England boss.
Farrell has gone on to win 112 caps, lead his country in the last two World Cup campaigns and is England’s record international points-scorer.
He would be 34 if he leaves Racing after two years and returns to England, suggesting any international return would be unlikely.
Farrell, though, would be on the British and Irish Lions’ radar for their 2025 Australia tour, which will see his father Andy fill the role of head coach.
A statement from Racing read: “Racing 92 formalises the signing of Owen Farrell within its professional men’s team.
“The English international player is committed to two sporting seasons and will join the Ciel et Blanc squad from July 1, 2024.”
Farrell will link up with the likes of South Africa’s double World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi at Racing, along with exciting England back Henry Arundell.
Speaking after he announced his Six Nations squad last Wednesday, England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “I think what’s important is that Owen makes a decision that is right for Owen and his family.
“Will a player of Owen’s calibre be missed if he chooses to play outside of England? Yes, of course.
“Do I want him in some point in the future to come back? Yes. But I also want him to do what’s right for him and his family and have the experiences and the memories that he wants to make.”
Farrell’s decision will be a major blow for Saracens, although Racing’s announcement will not have caught them on the hop as Saracens rugby director Mark McCall recently revealed that he knew what decision Farrell had made.
Farrell apart, a number of players who were key to Saracens’ sustained European and Premiership successes over the past 10 years are unlikely to be involved after this summer.
Some will be out of contract and departing, and others retiring, and McCall said last week: “Everybody realises the adventure we’ve been on is coming to an end, and there is a new adventure about to start with a group of younger players we are incredibly excited about who have signed up for the longer term.
“Players are going to retire or they are in the twilight of their careers – it is just the cycle of a team.
“I suppose all good things come to an end, and there is a re-energising effect and impact of a new group.
“We have met with the players who we believe will grab hold of it over the next three or four years. We have met with them regularly over the past couple of months.
“There is a new dawn coming, and it is exciting for everybody.”
Saracens have lost five of their last eight games and slipped outside the Premiership top four.
But they recovered from a record 55-15 European defeat against Bordeaux-Begles to book an Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 place by beating Lyon on Saturday.
'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.
The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.
Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation.
"We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.
"We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.
"They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.
"Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.
"There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.
"We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."
South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup.
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
England dominate Sri Lanka after Atkinson's maiden Test century
England ended day two of the second Test versus Sri Lanka with a commanding 256-run lead, having skittled the tourists for 196 off the back of Gus Atkinson's century.
Joe Root's record-equalling 33rd red-ball century had ensured England ended a difficult opening day with a chance to build a commanding lead, and they did just that early on as Atkinson took centre-stage.
Resuming at 74 not out, Atkinson brought up his maiden Test century with a fine drive past mid-on shortly before lunch, eventually ending his knock with 14 fours and four sixes.
He would later fall for 118 to the outstanding Asitha Fernando, who then completed a five-for by removing Olly Stone to wrap up the England innings at 427 all out.
Any hopes Sri Lanka had of making an early dent in that target were frustrated, however, as England shared the wickets around in a brilliant team bowling performance.
Chris Woakes and Stone, who removed Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka within the space of five balls – left the tourists teetering at 35-3 by the end of the 10th over, and there was little help to come from the middle order.
Matthew Potts took the ball and sent stumps flying to account for Angelo Matthews and Dhananjaya de Silva in the 21st over, with Woakes, Stone and Atkinson later also doubling up as the tourists collapsed.
Kamindu Mendis' steady knock of 74 off 120 balls brought some respite for Sri Lanka, but he edged Atkinson's delivery into the palms of Woakes for the final wicket, failing to match his ton from the first Test at Old Trafford on a miserable day for the visitors.
England then avoided any drama when taking up the bat for seven overs before stumps, and Ben Duckett (15) and Pope (2) will resume at the crease on Saturday, hoping to make their handsome lead an unassailable one.
Data Debrief: Atkinson's big moment
While Root's heroics put England in a decent position ahead of Friday's play, Atkinson's brilliant 118 – coming off 115 balls – could prove the difference in this Test, allowing England to build a strong lead despite a lack of support from the lower order.
Atkinson's previous best red-ball knock was a score of 21 not out versus West Indies at Trent Bridge in July.
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