ON THE BLINDSIDE
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Sale Sharks are set to bring former Leicester fullback Telusa Veainu back to the Premiership next season as they look to replace Byron McGuigan, who is retiring.
Veainu, the 32-year-old New Zealand-born Tongan international, spent five years at Welford Road before moving to Stade Francais in 2020.
The former All Blacks U20 international, who played in his homeland and Australia before moving to the Tigers, scored 32 tries in 79 appearances during his stay in the East Midlands.
Veainu, whose younger sister Langi is a New Zealand dual code international playing flanker in union and centre or wing in rugby league, is out of contract with Stade at the end of next month. He was a target for Bristol Bears when they were looking at options to replace former All Black Charles Piutau if he left the club in 2021, after rapidly turning into one of the best full-backs in the Top 14.
Veainu opted to stay in Paris and has started 18 times for Stade this season, and will offer Alex Sanderson options as he can either play at full-back or on the wing.
Veainu is still highly thought of Leicester, who are bidding this afternoon to stop the Sharks from booking their place in the Twickenham Premiership final.
Earlier in the season, he said he hoped to return to the Premiership and was open to joining the Tigers again, but instead, the Sharks were quick to snap him when he came onto the market.
