John Hardie to leave Edinburgh at end of season

Head coach Richard Cockerill has confirmed that Scotland flanker John Hardie will leave Edinburgh at the end of the season.

Cockerill stated that financial considerations and the need to balance the squad on a tight budget had been the driving factor in the decision not to renew the 29-year-old’s contract.

"We have a lot of young guys coming through," said Cockerill.

"John is the same as a lot of other guys, financially we need to spread our costs.

"We have to make sure we are getting value out of our budget. We have guys like Jamie Ritchie and Luke Crosbie coming through, while Hamish Watson is first choice for Scotland.

"Add in John Barclay (who arrives this summer) and there is a lot of good back-row players.

"We need to get value from the squad and get the right balance moving forward."

Hardie joined Edinburgh from Super Rugby side the Highlanders, and made his debut in the Challenge Cup win over Grenoble at BT Murrayfield on 13 November 2015, before scoring his first try for the club the following week in the away win over Agen.