Santiago Grondona: Argentina flanker leave Exeter Chiefs for Pau
- Published
Santiago Grondona marked his final Exeter appearance with a try against Sale in the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final earlier this month
Argentina's Santiago Grondona has left Exeter Chiefs to join French side Pau.
The 24-year-old joined the club in November 2021 and signed a contract extension in March last year.
Having played 11 times in the league last season he has found chances harder to come by this term - he has started one league game and one Premiership Rugby Cup match this season.
Grondona has joined Pau as medical cover and has gone into the squad for the trip to Toulouse on Saturday.
'It's odd when it happens that quickly, it genuinely is, but we considered it quickly," Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told the club website.
"The reality is we're not in a position to offer Santi a contract for next season, he's aware of that, and so for me sometimes you've got to do the right thing by the right people.
"We actually need Santi around at the moment, the Six Nations period is probably when we need that extra bit of thickness.
"But I didn't want to hold Santi back from the opportunity that was there, all the decisions were made in the space of two hours, which was quite unprecedented."