![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS289977313.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe former Ospreys tighthead hasn’t represented his country since the last Rugby World Cup<\/p>\n
Tomas Francis says he wants to play for Wales again(Image: \u00a9 Huw Evans Picture Agency)<\/p>\n
Sale Sharks have confirmed the signing of Wales<\/a> international Tomas Francis<\/a>, with the prop admitting he wants to pull on the red jersey again after nearly three years away from Test rugby.<\/p>\n The 33-year-old tighthead has not played for Wales since the 2023 Rugby World Cup<\/a>, having joined French ProD2 club Provence on a three-year deal after the tournament. However, the former Ospreys<\/a> and Exeter Chiefs star never actually retired from international rugby, instead imposing his own exile from the national team and choosing to spend time with his family in France.<\/p>\n It was reported earlier this week that Francis was nearing a return to the Gallagher PREM with Sale <\/a>and the club has now confirmed that he will join them ahead of the 2026\/27 season, having already signed fellow Welsh prop Nicky Smith.<\/p>\n The move is likely to put Francis back in the frame for Wales with Steve Tandy currently lacking experience and real Test quality at tighthead – and the 77-cap international has now made his feelings clear on wanting to represent his country again.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a really good time at Exeter so I know the Prem well and I\u2019m looking forward to playing with guys like Luke Cowan-Dickie again,” said the Welshman as his move to Sale was confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had a real adventure in France but I wanted to take the next step and after I spoke to Alex (Sanderson), I knew this was the right move. Something really exciting is building at Sale. They play the kind of rugby I love, it\u2019s a top four squad and I want to be a part of that.”<\/p>\n Explaining the other factors that led him to choose Sale, Francis added: \u201cWhen I heard my mate Nicky Smith was joining next season as well, it clinched it.<\/p>\n “My first experience of rugby was watching Sale as a child and my first rugby shirt was a Sharks shirt with \u2018Francis 3\u2019 on the back. This is the perfect place for me. It\u2019s a brilliant full circle moment.”<\/p>\n On what the move means for his Test ambitions, meanwhile, he added: \u201cI love playing for Wales and I\u2019ve still got aspirations to pull on that red shirt again. Playing at the top level every week, in a team that\u2019s competing at the top of the Prem is the best way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Heaping praise on his new signing, Sale’s director of rugby Sanderson said: \u201cTom\u2019s got a huge amount of experience. He\u2019s got almost 80 caps but he\u2019s got the ambition and drive to play in another World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I spoke to him, that drive was really inspiring. At his age he still wants to play at the very top level and he sees this club as a way to do that.<\/p>\n \u201cAdding him and Nicky to the squad is fantastic because that\u2019s almost 140 caps of experience. On the field Tom will be brilliant but off the field, I know that experience will really benefit our younger props like Asher and Bevan.\u201d<\/p>\n Francis previously said that he would “put his hand up” for Wales selection when his time in France was over, telling RugbyPass<\/a> in 2024: \u201cI\u2019ve never retired from Test rugby and I never will retire.<\/p>\n “But I\u2019ve moved my family to France and I want to spend my time with them while I\u2019m here. If I\u2019m going back to Wales to play, then they\u2019d be stuck in France on their own for weeks on end and that wouldn\u2019t be fair.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way things stand I\u2019m going to see out my contract with my full focus on the club. After that, who knows? I think I\u2019ll have a few years left in me when I finish this contract, and if I\u2019m still good enough and Wales need me, I\u2019ll be there. I\u2019ll put my hand up.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Ospreys tighthead hasn’t represented his country since the last Rugby World Cup Tomas Francis says he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,32645,101,102635,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-371459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sale-sharks","tag-sports","tag-tomas-francis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}