Courtney Lawes will join French side CA Brive and bring his long stay at Northampton Saints to an end following the conclusion of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season. In a statement on the Northampton website, the 35-year-old admitted it was “incredibly sad” to be leaving his boyhood club but added that he could not turn down the deal he was offered to move abroad.

At the conclusion of the 2023–24 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season, Courtney Lawes will depart from Northampton Saints and sign for CA Brive, a French rugby team.
The former England international has played for his boyhood club his entire career, but he has made the decision to sign a “transformational” contract, which he acknowledges will “probably be the last contract” he ever signs.
Since making his debut for Saints in 2007, Lawes, 35, has been a key member of the team and is considered as one of the greatest flankers in the league.

After that, he played for 17 seasons, 274 games for the black, green, and gold, and was capped by England. After the Rugby World Cup, he announced his retirement from international competition.
Although Lawes had always insisted that he wanted to end his career as a one-club man, he claimed that the offer from France was too good to turn down.
In a statement posted on Northampton’s website, Lawes said, “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.”

“However, my primary priority is to ensure that my family and I are in the best possible position for my retirement, which is expected to happen within the next few years.”I made the decision to leave Northampton since this is probably the final contract I will ever sign and the offer to play overseas will have a profound impact on my family. I could not have declined the offer.I’m incredibly appreciative of everything Saints has provided for me. I’m appreciative that I got to play for my city for such a long period, and the fans have always been incredible, through good times and bad.

“I hope that my efforts on the field have demonstrated my gratitude for the Saints, as I’ve gone through it all with them. While I am certainly very sad to be departing, I know that the players, coaches, and staff at Saints will take excellent care of the team both on and off the field.
Lawes won the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2010, the Challenge Cup in 2009, and the Gallagher Premiership title in 2014 while he was a member of Northampton’s team.