England international Ben Cohen has signed for Premiership side Sale on a two-year deal from Brive, the French club has confirmed.

Brive said that the move, which will be completed this summer, was motivated by family reasons.

The 30-year-old, a World Cup winner with England in 2003, joined Brive from Northampton in July 2007 after buying out his contract.

Cohen was the second most used player at Brive this season.

He left Northampton in September 2007 after losing out to Bruce Reihana for the club captaincy, buying himself out of his contract so he could join Leicester.

However that move broke down because his testimonial earnings from Northampton would have broken their salary cap.

His move back to England bucks a recent trend which has seen Premiership players, such as James Haskell, Riki Flutey, Tom Palmer and Andy Goode, leave the Premiership to play in France.

Cohen joins a club which will have former England team-mate Jason Robinson as its head coach next season.

Sale punished Leicester’s lack of precision with victory in a tense Premiership encounter at Edgeley Park.

The Sharks scored through Rory Lamont in the first half, while four Charlie Hodgson penalties and one from Luke McAlister kept the champions at bay.

The Tigers also crossed with Johne Murphy before the break but Andy Goode suffered an off day with the boot.

Leicester’s lack of discipline also cost them as Sale leapfrogged the Tigers to go fourth in the league.

Sale have not lost at Edgeley Park since a 26-25 defeat against Leicester in April, while the visitors’ losing bonus point kept them fifth in the table, level on points with Harlequins.

The endeavour was high in the opening period but both sides were struggling to find any cohesion and set-piece and handling errors abounded.

Sale raced into an early lead with two Hodgson penalties before Goode slotted his first kick for the Tigers.

The Sharks thought they had clinched the first try on the half hour mark when Julien Laharrague rumbled over but the referee ruled he was held up.

From the ensuing scrum, though, Sale were awarded a penalty and the Sharks went away with another three points.

Shortly after, Goode made a promising foray into Sale’s half and was rewarded with a penalty, but pulled his kick left of the posts.

But the game exploded into life just before the break when things finally clicked for both sides.

Hodgson’s chip launched a flowing Sale attack involving former All Black McAlister, and French pair Sebastien Chabal and Sebastien Bruno before the fly-half fired a long pass out left to send wing Lamont crashing over.

Leicester followed through with their own threat almost immediately from the kick-off, when Goode broke left from a scrum in midfield and looped around Ollie Smith to find Johne Murphy who sliced over in the left corner.

The Tigers built on the momentum after the break and Goode landed a second penalty, shortly after missing with a drop-goal attempt.

Sale hit back with a spell of possession but looked set to be punished for failing to convert pressure into points when Leicester earned a penalty upfield.

Goode pointed at the sticks but pushed his kick right and Sale’s fragile three-point lead remained intact until the Tigers number 10 slotted a long penalty with 20 minutes left.

Instantly, though, the Tigers forwards gave away another penalty and Hodgson reclaimed the lead for Sale.

Tigers wing Tom Varndell went close to a try but was bundled into the corner flag as he sniffed the line and Goode hit the post with a penalty as Leicester squandered their mounting territorial advantage.

And as the end loomed, McAlister slotted a game-clinching penalty to seal Leicester’s demise.

French forward Sebastien Chabal has signed a new two-year deal with Sale.

The iconic 30-year-old, who has 37 caps and five tries for France, was Philippe Saint-Andre’s first signing when he joined the Edgeley Park club in 2004.

Chabal can play at number eight and second row and is one of the game’s most recognisable faces.

“Although he had received big money offers to go and play in France, he has committed his future to Sale,” said coach Saint-Andre.

“‘Seabass’ is a great player and is a fans’ favourite too, he always gives his best. He will play a big part in the future of Sale and we are all delighted that he has signed a new deal.”

Chabal’s new contract also includes the option of another year.

The powerful forward is a huge star in his home country and her admitted avoiding the glare of publicity was one of the reasons for him signing a new contract with Sale.

“I have enjoyed my time in England and am able to get on with playing rugby which I enjoy,” he said. “If I lived and played in France, I think my wife would go crazy with all the supporter attention I receive there.”

Sale Sharks have signed Brent Cockbain after the Wales lock left the Ospreys by mutual consent.
 
The 33-year-old, who has won 24 Wales caps, joins the Guinness Premiership side on a two-and-a-half year deal.

Sale head coach Kingsley Jones confirmed the deal to BBC Wales’ Scrum V programme on Sunday.

“Brent is suited to the Premiership,” Jones said. “He’s big, tough, resilient – we need people like that in our team and I’m sure he’ll bring an edge.”

Cockbain, who joined the Ospreys from the Celtic Warriors in 2004, was keen to join Sale last summer but had a transfer request turned down.
The 6ft 8in Australian-born second rower was left out of Wales’ squad for the World Cup, with three locks who did make it – Ian Evans, Alun Wyn Jones and Ian Gough – all on the Ospreys’ books.

Cockbain played for the Barbarians in Saturday’s 22-5 win over South Africa at Twickenham and signalled his split from the Ospreys by wearing socks in the colours of former team Pontypridd.

Players invited to play for the Baa-Baas wear the famous black and white striped jersey but wear the socks of their domestic regional or club side.

But Cockbain will now be donning the colours of Sale in the Premiership, with Jones delighted to strengthen their options in the second row.

“We’ve got Dean Schofield in that role at the moment, who is very good for us, we’ve also got the Argentinean Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe but obviously he’s an overseas player,” Jones added.

“So if we did have an injury to Schofield we’ve got no one to push into that middle row there of that type of stature – a big, strong, pain-in-the-backside sort of lock that Brent is.

“He’s the type of guy that you don’t want to play against and after the game everyone complains about him!”

New Zealand fly-half Luke McAlister insisted he would be happy to play second fiddle to Charlie Hodgson at Sale Sharks at the press conference convened to announce his official arrival.

The 24-year-old, who was unveiled by the Guinness Premiership club at Edgeley Park, is set to make his debut at inside centre against Worcester a week on Friday, with England fly-half Hodgson retaining the number ten jersey.

“I’ve always looked up to Charlie,” said McAlister, who has signed a two-year contract.

“I enjoy the way he plays. I am happy to play anywhere. I’ll do the best I can for the team.”

McAlister, who won the last of his 24 caps in the All Blacks’ World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Cardiff last month, admitted he agonised over his decision to move abroad, which essentially means forfeiting his national team jersey for the time being.

He is the third high-profile New Zealander to join the Premiership for this season, with prop Carl Hayman linking up with Newcastle and Saracens signing second row Chris Jack, and he anticipates more following suit as a result of the diminishing appeal of the All Black jersey.

“It was a huge decision,” he said.

“It took me five or six months to make it.

“But I felt it was time for a change. I wanted to play overseas and explore the world and I have backed my decision. I don’t want to look back.

“I’m probably one of the youngest to do it but I am sure there will be many more following.

“The game is changing so much. You grow up wanting to be an All Black but ways of thinking are changing and it’s only a short career.”

Although he has abandoned hope of adding to his All Black honours in the short term, McAlister admits it would be an incentive to play in the 2011 World Cup in his native New Zealand.

“That would be wonderful,” said McAlister, who will be 26 when his contract with Sale runs out.

“It would be good to play again if I was to go back but I can’t expect to.

“That’s for the future. My focus is now on Sale and whatever happens in the future happens. I really want to do my best for these guys.”

McAlister is thought to have turned down Munster and Toulouse to return to the north-west of England, where he lived for 10 years from the age of four while his father Charlie played rugby league for Oldham, Castleford and Sheffield Eagles.

He was a member of the Manchester United academy and remains a big Red Devils fan.

McAlister, who played in four of the All Blacks’ five matches at the World Cup, is likely to travel with the Sharks squad for Saturday’s European Challenge Cup tie against Petrarca before making his debut the following week.

“He will have a full week of training and we will make a decision during next week,” said director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre.

“He will probably be involved in the 22.”

McAlister will make his home debut against Bayonne in Sale’s next match at Edgeley Park on December 13.