Josh Strauss has revealed he only agreed to renew his contract with Glasgow Warriors two years’ ago in order to play for Scotland after it was announced on Tuesday that the forward has agreed a deal to join Sale Sharks from next season.

The 30-year-old announced last month that he was planning to leave the Pro12 side at the end of the season when his current contract runs out, and had attracted interest from both the Premiership and the Top 14 in France.

But after Sale revealed that they had secured the South African-born No 8 on a three-year deal, Strauss confirmed that he has instructed his agent to secure him a move to England and had only extended his deal at Scotstoun before the 2015 Rugby World Cup so that he qualified to play for Scotland, having joined Glasgow in 2012.

“I signed for Glasgow and needed to sign for a second term in order to qualify to play for the national side,” Strauss said in a statement.

Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Show all 15 1 /15 Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Ben Moon (England) Placed in the unenviable position of replacing the best loosehead on the world and did himself proud. Lasted 77 minutes of England’s defeat in Wales which is no small feat in such an attritional encounter, and held his own in the scrum and defence with an impressive 19 tackles. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy) Another player who displayed his best in defeat. Ghiraldini was reliable at the lineout and stood out with ball in hand as he carried powerfully in attack. Also contributed with a full 80-minute outing. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Demba Bamba (France) One of France’s most prominent carriers as they finally got their campaign up and running with an impressive victory over Scotland. Looks a real find at 20 years old and can more than hold his own in the front-row. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Cory Hill (Wales) Scored the try that broke England’s spirit and put Wales on the path to victory in Cardiff. Took on responsibility at the lineout when Ken Owens started to wobble, and looked like a man who had emptied the tank when he left the field to huge applause. Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) What more can you say about the Welsh captain? Leads by example, but then he’s never short of the right words when they’re needed. A colossus against his oldest enemy as he mentally broke Kyle Sinckler and led the charge in refusing to bow to the English defence. At 33 years old, he seems to be getting better by the day. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Josh Navidi (Wales) Is transpiring to be quite the player at international level as this week he displayed both sides of his game. Defensively brilliant as he ensured everything that he hit stayed hit, but also offered more offensively with smart support play to those around him. One good turnover with Liam Williams brought three points for Wales as they trapped Jonny May in possession. Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Tom Curry (England) Arguably the standout performer of the round. At 20 years of age, the promise in Curry is enough to make every England fan excited, even if it came in a losing effort. England’s half-time lead in Cardiff – and Wales’ inability to get into the match – came through Curry as he scored an opportunistic try and defended like a man possessed. Made an astonishing 17 tackles by half-time and added eight more after the break. Action Images via Reuters Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Louis Picamoles (France) Mr Reliable once again turned up for the resurgent French as they took the fight to Scotland and came away with the victory. Carried emphatically from the base and caused problems for the French back-row, while he was also a rock in defence. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Tito Tebaldi (Italy) Probably the surprise package of the round. Made his first Six Nations appearance since 2014 and proved to be the spark that the Italians needed to get going. Quick to the breakdown that helped produce Edoardo Padovani’s opening try and stripped Conor Murray of the ball to breakaway that set-up the second. He was also a useful addition at the breakdown. REUTERS Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Romain Ntamack (France) Lived up to the high billing he’s received on his first start in the No 10 shirt after two outings at centre, and looked to do enough to hold on to his place for the trip to Ireland. Part of a Toulouse spine running through the back line that clicked into gear and he calmly finished a brilliant 70m move to get France off the mark. EPA Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Josh Adams (Wales) A beautiful finish sparked wild celebrations inside the Prinicipality Stadium as he soared above Elliot Daly and juggled the ball as he crashed to the turf before placing it over the line. Superb in defence, particularly aerially, and made a crucial tackle on Jonny May when he looked to be away. Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Gael Fickou (France) Probably one of his best outings for Les Bleus that came at the perfect time with Wesley Fofana still absent through injury. Caused Scotland to retreat on numerous occasions with clean line breaks and also contributed well in defence. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Chris Farrell (Ireland) In the absence of Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and – after just 11 minutes – Bundee Aki due to injury, Farrell helped ensure that Ireland didn’t slip-up in Rome. It was his clean line break that set-up Quinn Roux to score the opener, while he also linked nicely with Earls outside him for his Munster teammate to scythe through the Italian defence. Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Keith Earls (Ireland) Ireland boss Joe Schmidt couldn’t have asked much more from him as he showed good awareness to link with Conor Murray to score the third try to get Ireland back in front, feigning to go outside before cutting back inside two defenders to score. Made numerous line breaks and also had to show his versatility by moving from wing to centre. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations team of the weekend - round three Thomas Ramos (France) Perhaps harsh on Wales’ Liam Williams who enjoyed an excellent outing in Cardiff, but there was something quite brilliant about watching Ramos’ display in Paris. Beat seven defenders, three of which came in a breath-taking counter attack that led to Ntamack’s try. All of this came on his first Six Nations start, and it felt like the arrival of France’s new long-term full-back. AFP/Getty Images

"Since coming to the UK I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play in the Premiership, which is a highly rated competition by players in South Africa.

“I have really enjoyed my time with the Warriors, but I asked my agent to look around in the Premiership for me.

“He came back with Sale Sharks who have a good name, a good record in the Premiership and looked an attractive proposition.

“I rang my friend Byron McGuigan who is at the club and he spoke very highly about Steve Diamond, Sharks as a club and the supporters."

Strauss is currently sidelined with kidney damage suffered during Scotland’s 22-16 defeat by France on 12 February that will keep him out of the rest of the Six Nations, but Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond heralded his signature for the club and believes he will add considerable power to his pack.

"Josh is a world class ball-carrying forward," said Diamond.

Strauss revealed he only stayed with Glasgow to qualify for Scotland on residency (Getty)

"He has been performing well for both Glasgow and Scotland over the past five years and will complement the squad in the ball-carrying department."