Sale Sharks are delighted to announce the signing of England U18 full-back Joe Carpenter from Yorkshire Carnegie on a long-term academy contract.
18-Year-old Joe put pen to paper on a deal with Sale over the summer after a lack of opportunity for senior academy players at Yorkshire Carnegie forced their management to look for other opportunities for players in their pathway.
Born in Leeds, Joe has been involved in the Yorkshire Carnegie academy set up since 2016 and has always impressed when playing against the Sale academy, he is an elusive runner that possess exceptional pace and is widley regarded as one of the most exciting academy prospects in the country.
Joe has played age grade rugby for England alongside a number of Sharks current academy crop including Tom Curtis, Tom Roebuck and Raffi Quirke and joins an already ambitious group of players hoping to impress on the international scene this year.
Joe admitted he was excited about the prospect of moving to Sale Sharks when commenting on his move earlier this month, he said: “I’m really happy to have signed with Sale Sharks, It’s a new challenge to face and I’m really excited. It’s not just about staying in the North West, there is a lot of opportunity as a youngster coming through at Sale and to be training and developing with guys like Chris Ashton and Faf de Klerk is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. I’m really looking forward to developing as a player at an incredibly strong northern club.”
Adding to the announcement Brendan Thomas, Sale Sharks Academy Manger said: “We are really pleased to have secured Joe’s services for the future and it’s fantastic to be able to add more northern talent into our Academy. Joe had a number of Premiership clubs interested in signing him and we are grateful he recognised the opportunity the club could offer him.“
Ben Lazenby, Yorkshire Carnegie Academy Manager, said: We are delighted for Joe, he had a lot of interest from a number of premiership clubs and has chosen a fit that he feels suits him the best and I am sure he will continue to have lots of success at Sale Sharks”.
“We (Yorkshire Carnegie Academy) will continue to be focused on doing the best for each players’ individual needs and development, finding the best solutions for the players is our key focus whether the players continue to develop with us, or find an alternative pathway within the game, we will be putting the players best interests at the centre of their future.
