LOCK Shay Kerry, who made five first-team appearances for Worcester Warriors in the British and Irish Cup last season, has left Sixways.

The 20-year-old revealed the news of his Warriors’ departure on Twitter and said he was heading to France with Oyonnax.

He said: “It’s time to start my new adventure in France with Oyonnax. Time to get back to training hard.”

The Kent-born player joined Warriors’ academy in November 2013 from New Zealand side Bay of Plenty but had a heart scare just two months later, which needed surgery.

He was taken ill playing for Worcester against Leeds Carnegie in the Premiership Rugby Under 18s Academy League.

Kerry, who represented Millwall Football Club as a youngster before moving to New Zealand, told how he had Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, which causes the heart to beat abnormally fast, since childhood.

The lock had a procedure called radiofrequency ablation and, at the time, said he would like to dedicate the rest of his playing career to Warriors for the support they had given him.