Charlie Ngatai to leave Chiefs for Lyon

Chiefs midfielder Charlie Ngatai has confirmed he will leave New Zealand at the end of the 2018 Super Rugby season and head to France.

"Myself and my wife, we sort of sat down and thought about giving overseas a crack," explained the 27-year-old.

"You never know when you're going to get concussed or when your career can sort of fall short…you never know when your career's going to finish and I'd said to my wife before that I want to take (my family) overseas and experience that."

Following his sixth season in Super Rugby with Chiefs, the one-test All Black will join Lyon in the French Top 14 on a two-year contract.

"I'm still working through that and hopefully in the next few weeks it'll be finalized."