Major blow for Sale as Faf De Klerk’s departure is announced

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In a blow to the prestige of the Gallagher Premiership following the reduction in salary cap to £5million, De Klerk will leave alongside fellow South Africa 2019 World Cup winner Lood De Jager. De Klerk has made 95 appearances for Sale since signing in 2017 and is set to join Japanese side NTT Docomo Red, while 29-year-old lock De Jager has accumulated 25 outings in an injury-hit stay in Manchester and is expected to return to South Africa. The Sharks slipped out of Premiership play-off contention with their defeat by Saracens on Friday night, leaving the Heineken Champions Cup as De Klerk’s last chance of winning any front-line silverware at the club. “He’s fine now and running around like a spring chicken because the antibiotics have kicked in.” Manu Tuilagi will also face Bristol after making a successful comeback from a strained hamstring against Saracens, but Sanderson is determined not to expose his injury-prone prized asset to unnecessary risk.