Northampton Saints have announced that  twenty five year old hooker Brett Sharman, has left the club.

It had been reported earlier on Friday that Northampton Saints were “carrying out internal disciplinary procedures over a comment one of their players made about Mo Farah on Twitter. ”

Sharman allegedly posted the offensive tweet on 11 August the day Farah won the second of his Olympic gold medals, in the 5000m.

Sharman apologised on Twitter the following day and has deleted his account.

If the report of the detail of the alleged message is to believed it would appear that not only was it an offensive racist one, but also not a very bright one as it allegedly  makes reference to a country that Farah does not even come from.

Saints had not revealed any of the details regarding possible disciplinary action to be taken against Sharman but only commented: “Northampton Saints treats all such matters seriously. The club has a clear policy regarding social media and is following the procedures set out in that policy. Northampton Saints does not comment on individual cases.”

Later on Friday the announcement of Sharman’s axing from the club followed on the Saints website. No reference was made to the earlier issues that were raised, but instead mentioned that Sharman was leaving due to a long term injury.

Northampton Saints

The 25-year-old hooker joined the Saints in midway through the 2008/09 season, with the last of his 68 appearances coming in January’s LV= Cup trip to Bath. Since then a knee injury has ruled him out of action, and with no immediate prospect of Sharman returning to full fitness the decision was made to terminate his contract.

“It is always a shame when someone’s contract comes to an end in these circumstances,” commented director of rugby Jim Mallinder. “Brett has contributed a lot to the squad in his time at Franklin’s Gardens and we wish him all the best for the future.”

“I’ve enjoyed my time at the Saints,” Sharman said. “It is a great club with good people and I am sure that there will be major success coming to Franklin’s Gardens sooner rather than later. The players, management and supporters all deserve that and I wish them every success.” ends.

Former Springbok prop Brian Mujati plays for Northampton and former Blue Bull Gerrit Jan van Velse is on his way to the club. These players profiles are both listed on the club website.

One assumes that Brett Sharman was also still listed as a Saints player on their website as the news is so recent. However,  they  also still have the profile of Saracens bound Chris Ashton still up as well. 

Brett Sharman’s profile (Northampton Saints):

Brett arrived at Franklin’s Gardens midway through the 2008/09 season. Although from South Africa, he is also qualified for England thanks to his ancestry.

After making his Premiership debut in January 2009 Brett has become a regular in the Saints team, especially when Dylan Hartley is on international duty, and played in every game in the LV= Cup-winning campaign.

The hooker continued to impress early in the 2010/11 season and hit the 50-appearance mark in the Saints’ LV= Cup win over Leeds, though a serious knee injury at the start of 2012 robbed him of the chance to add to that haul as the season moved into its business end. ends.

With it being reported earlier in the week the Western Province hooker Deon Fourie is leaving for Toulon at the end of the season one wonders whether they may express an interest in Brett Sharman should he get over his injuries.

However, it was reported at the time of Sharman’s arrival in Britain that he was qualified to play for England and should he be keen to try to do so one day then one assumes that he may rather look for a club in Britain to further his career with.