Josh Strauss reveals he only stayed with Glasgow Warriors to qualify for Scotland after securing Sale Sharks move

Strauss is currently ruled out of the Six Nations after suffering kidney damage

Josh Strauss has signed a three-year deal with Sale Sharks from next season (Getty)

Josh Strauss has revealed he only agreed to renew his contract with Glasgow Warriors two years’ ago in order to play for Scotland after it was announced on Tuesday that the forward has agreed a deal to join Sale Sharks from next season.

The 30-year-old announced last month that he was planning to leave the Pro12 side at the end of the season when his current contract runs out, and had attracted interest from both the Premiership and the Top 14 in France.

But after Sale revealed that they had secured the South African-born No 8 on a three-year deal, Strauss confirmed that he has instructed his agent to secure him a move to England and had only extended his deal at Scotstoun before the 2015 Rugby World Cup so that he qualified to play for Scotland, having joined Glasgow in 2012.

“I signed for Glasgow and needed to sign for a second term in order to qualify to play for the national side,” Strauss said in a statement.

"Since coming to the UK I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play in the Premiership, which is a highly rated competition by players in South Africa.

“I have really enjoyed my time with the Warriors, but I asked my agent to look around in the Premiership for me.

“He came back with Sale Sharks who have a good name, a good record in the Premiership and looked an attractive proposition.

“I rang my friend Byron McGuigan who is at the club and he spoke very highly about Steve Diamond, Sharks as a club and the supporters."

Strauss is currently sidelined with kidney damage suffered during Scotland’s 22-16 defeat by France on 12 February that will keep him out of the rest of the Six Nations, but Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond heralded his signature for the club and believes he will add considerable power to his pack.

"Josh is a world class ball-carrying forward," said Diamond.

Strauss revealed he only stayed with Glasgow to qualify for Scotland on residency (Getty)

"He has been performing well for both Glasgow and Scotland over the past five years and will complement the squad in the ball-carrying department."

Strauss joined Glasgow from South African Super Rugby side the Lions in 2012 and qualified for Scotland on residency grounds ahead of the 2015 World Cup, having accumulated 11 caps since making his debut in their opening pool match against Japan.