Debut: Vs Warrington Wolves (A) 16/02/2023
Honours:
Championship Grand Final: Winner 2021 (Toulouse)
Championship League Leaders': 2021 (Toulouse)
Leeds Rhinos confirmed the signing of French international forward Justin Sangare ahead of the 2023 Betfred Super League season.
The 6’4” prop played 70 games for Toulouse Olympique having come through the club’s development programme. He made his debut for the club in 2016 when he was just 17 and made six appearances off the bench that season in League One.
The following year he made three starts and eight appearances as a replacement, with nine appearances off the bench in 2018, scoring four tries. The following year he earned a call up to the French national side for their tour to Australia, which included featuring in the World Nines in Sydney. In 2021, he was a mainstay of the Toulouse Olympique side which finally secured promotion to Super League, making 13 appearances and scoring ten tries in the process.
During his debut Super League campaign, Sangare was one of the club's top performers as he appeared 23 times for Olympique, who were subsequently relegated at the climax of the season. In addition to his club form, Sangare scored for France off the bench against England in Perpignan in 2022, and was also selected for France's World Cup squad.
Arriving at the Rhinos, Sangare's try in his first appearance against Warrington quickly put the forward amongst the fan favourites as he featured 18 times in blue and amber. A foot injury suffered against Leigh ended his campaign prematurely, but after agreeing a contract extension, he bounced back to play 24 out of 28 games in 2024. Utilised as a starter in the front row, he scored his sole try of the campaign against London in a convincing 46-8 result.
After 42 appearances over two seasons at the club, Sangare was released from the remaining year of his contract to allow him to negotiate with other clubs on a new deal.