Former Sharks centre Paul Jordaan will be returning to South Africa after being released by French Top 14 club La Rochelle at the end of the season.

The 27-year-old brings an end to his three-year stay in France after moving to the Parisian team in 2016.

Jordaan was a key member of the La Rochelle side that topped the French Championship standings in his first season with the team, where they eventually fell out at the semi-finals.

He has, however, struggled with injury this year and found appearances hard to come by, eventually leading to both parties agreeing to an early release from his contract, which would have run until 2021.

‘La Rochelle and Paul Jordaan have agreed to release the player at the end of the sports season,’ the club said in a statement. ‘We thank Paul for his seriousness and professionalism during his three seasons in Yellow and Black, and wish him the best for his return to South Africa.’

Jordaan has not yet announced his next move.

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What an incredible 3 years it has been. ⠀ Rugby has taken me many places. ⠀ I clearly remember the preseason super rugby games I played in Toulouse & Toulon in my last season at the Sharks, I came home to tell Tash “I will never move to France to play rugby” this was purely based off the freezing cold winters ? little did I know that same year I would be moving to La Rochelle, France. ⠀ What a journey, a place that helped me grow not only as a player but as a person. I have had extreme lows & incredible highs during the past 3 years both on & off the field. I have made incredible friends, that are now family. Each & everyone of you have impacting my life in some way, for that I am so grateful. The club for giving me the opportunity to live abroad & do what I love. The supporters- you guys are like nothing I have ever experienced. The French have such passion. ⠀ We have traveled & seen places, we got married & had our perfect little Ivy Mae. Our little French baby. We got to experience a new culture & way of life. What an incredible chapter it has been. ⠀ But as they say, when one door closes another door opens. We are excited about our next chapter, about being close to our family again. For now we will be heading back to the farm, a place I have longed for & missed for the past 20 years. ⠀ France you will be missed, Bon Voyage for now. Hopefully back for a holiday one day ?

A post shared by Pᴀᴜʟ Jᴏʀᴅᴀᴀɴ | Kᴇᴛᴏ | Fɪᴛɴᴇss (@pauljordaan) on May 28, 2019 at 12:05pm PDT

Photo: Alexandre Dimou/Getty Images