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.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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