Two Sale Sharks players to leave the club

Two Sale Sharks players will leave the Manchester-based side at the end of the current Gallagher Premiership season.

Alex Sanderson’s side have confirmed that forwards Curtis Langdon and Cameron Neild are set to make their exit.

Both have been signed by Worcester Warriors DoR Steve Diamond, the pair having played under the 54-year-old during his tenure at the AJ Bell Stadium.

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“Curtis has developed into top Premiership player. He is an excellent, mobile and aggressive hooker with very good set-piece skills and a good working knowledge of the Premiership,” Diamond said. “He comes from a tough background and will be an excellent addition to the Warriors squad.

Neild – a hooker-turned-flanker – has been with the Sharks since joining the Sharks Academy after graduating from Manchester Grammar School in 2013.

“I’m delighted that Cam has also agreed to join me here,” said Diamond. “He is an exceptional player in both attack and defence. He’s a tough and uncompromising Premiership animal.”

In 2014, Neild made his Sale first-team debut, and he has since appeared in over 130 games for the club, scoring six tries. The back row has made nine appearances for Sharks this season – four as a starter and five as a replacement.

Since joining the Sharks’ academy in August 2016, hooker Langdon has made 89 appearances for the club, scoring 14 tries. That season, he made his debut against Saracens and scored his first try against Leicester Tigers.

Both players played key roles as Sharks sealed a third-place finish in the 2020/21 Premiership season, with Curtis’s form leading to a call-up to the full England squad in the summer of 2021 for games against USA and Canada.

Curtis made his England debut against the USA at Twickenham last July, and he has carried that momentum into this campaign, making 18 appearances, and scoring six tries, including five in the Gallagher Premiership.

“I have worked with Dimes before. I know how is going to run the place and, after meeting with him, everything is very positive and I am keen to be part of the team he is putting together at Worcester,” Langdon said on the Worcester Warriors website.

The news comes following Sale Sharks’ acquisition of winger Tom O’Flaherty from Exeter Chiefs.

“Everyone at Sale Sharks would like to thank both Curtis and Cameron for their huge contributions to the club and we wish them all the very best for the future,” a Sale Sharks’ statement concluded.