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Ex-England wing Denny Solomona has left Sale with immediate effect
By Liam Heagney
Sale have confirmed that Denny Solomona has left the club with immediate effect. The 28-year-old winger had joined the Sharks in 2016 after retiring from rugby league, going on to sign a four-year contract in 2018 which was due to expire at the end of this current season. An extension was likely, Alex Sanderson recently describing Solomona’s recent return to the first team at Sale as one of his proudest moments in rugby.
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However, after discussions with Sanderson and Sale CEO Sid Sutton, all parties have now agreed to terminate Solomona’s deal early after the five-cap ex-England winger expressed his desire to return to the southern hemisphere rather than continue on with the Manchester club.
Sanderson said: “I’d like to thank Denny for his efforts during my time at the club and wish him all the very best for the rest of his career and beyond.”
Solomona’s career started in New Zealand, where he earned his first professional sporting contract at the age of 15. He moved to the UK in 2014, joining Super League outfit London Broncos before moving to Castleford where he broke the Super League record by scoring 42 tries in his first season. Following his retirement from rugby league, Solomona joined Sale and scored 47 tries in 98 appearances for the club as well as being capped five times for England by Eddie Jones.
It was September 29 when Sanderson hailed the return to Premiership action of Solomona after a long lay-off, describing it as one of his proudest rugby achievements ever during his first calendar year in charge as the Sale director of rugby.
"He has had some mental issues and everyone is fully aware of that, he has been to the press about it in the past"
– Denny Solomona went 7?? months without a Sale appearance and was linked with a move, but he is now very much back in the fold ?
#Salehttps://t.co/U1KeAMaL3f— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 29, 2021
It was January when former Saracens assistant Sanderson inherited the squad left behind by Steve Diamond but the 28-year-old Auckland-born player made just a single appearance until coming off the bench at London Irish in September. Solomona, who had spoken candidly in the past to RugbyPass about his mental health issues, was introduced as a 52nd-minute replacement for Simon Hammersley, his first run in the league since a mid-February start at Harlequins.
“As a group of coaches it’s probably one of our proudest achievements,” enthused Sanderson when asked by RugbyPass at his weekly Sale media briefing at the time about the process of getting Solomona back up to speed and available again for selection.
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“I was just watching him now chatting to Warren Spragg and all of us who had some involvement (with Denny) have been most impressed by him but happy with ourselves with how we have managed to get (back) a brilliant player who has had some mental issues and everyone is fully aware of that, he has been to the press about it in the past and has had mental issues, but he is now flying because he is super motivated.”
