Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finalists Toulouse look set to lose their Australian international scrum half Luke Burgess earlier than expected.
The 29-year-old is ready to return home to link up with the Melbourne Rebels. His contract was due to run to May, 2014, but he is expected to leave at the end of this season.
Burgess helped Toulouse win the French Championship title last year and reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. This season he featured in all six Pool matches as the four times champions qualified for the Amlin Challenge Cup play-offs for the first time.
Toulouse travel to fellow French side Perpignan on Friday, 5 April when they will make their debut in the tournament
"I am going to leave - I have another opportunity. It's hard to work in another language, but that's not an excuse, it's a challenge that I appreciate," said Burgess.
"The rucks are different, the refereeing is different, that's true. But I have learned a lot playing in Europe."