Australian international Israel Folau has been linked with a move to the Premiership’s Sale Sharks next season as the Greater Manchester club look to replace the Irish bound duo of Mike Haley and Will Addison.
Haley will move to Munster next season to replace the departing Simon Zebo while Addison will move to Ulster to provide some cover for Bristol bound Charles Piutau and the injured Jared Payne.
The loss of Haley and Addison leaves Sale with some spots to fill in their backline with The Rugby Paper reporting that the Sharks have tabled a £750,000 offer for the Waratahs utility.
Folau is off contract at the end of the season with Rugby Australia failing to sanction him for his controversial comments about God’s plan for gay people.
Folau would potentially join former Wallabies teammate James O’Connor at the club if he signed while earlier this season Sale had made an ambitious inquiry as to the the availability of All Blacks World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams.
Under Rugby Australia’s Giteau rule, Folau would still be eligible to play for the Wallabies given that he has surpassed the minimum requirement of 60 caps for his country.
The dual code international revealed in a column for The PlayersVoice recently that he was willing to walk away from his contract with Rugby Australia following a meeting with the union in the wake of his controversial comments.
“During the meeting I told them it was never my intention to hurt anyone with the Instagram comment, but that I could never shy away from who I am, or what I believe,” Folau wrote in his column.
“After we’d all talked, I told Raelene if she felt the situation had become untenable – that I was hurting Rugby Australia, its sponsors and the Australian rugby community to such a degree that things couldn’t be worked through – I would walk away from my contract, immediately.
“This is not about money or bargaining power or contracts. It’s about what I believe in and never compromising that, because my faith is far more important to me than my career and always will be.”
