Heineken Cup finalists Biarritz Olympique have strengthened their pack with the acquisition on Erik Lund from Leeds Carnegie.
Lund, the lock-forward will leave the Guinness Premiership club at the end of the season to head to France on a two-year contract.
The 30-year-old will link up brother Magnus at the Heineken Cup finalists but admits that leaving Headingley was a hard decision
He told the club's official website: "I will always be extremely grateful to Leeds Carnegie for believing in me and giving me the chance to play in the Guinness Premiership.
"It was incredibly difficult because of how special this group are here.
"There are some obvious reasons why I decided to join Biarritz, notably the chance to play alongside my brother, to play in the Heineken Cup and experience a new lifestyle. All of those were beyond Leeds Carnegie's control.
"We have developed a great team spirit here and that is all about us working together and it was an uneasy decision for me to decide to leave that behind. However, I go with a lot of satisfaction with what we have achieved this year.
"I feel I am leaving the club in a strong position and I am really pleased for the rest of the lads that they will be playing at the highest level next year. "I have got a lot of friends here at Leeds and I will always have a strong link to the team."