Sam Burgess' rugby union career is over only one year into his misjudged cross-code move after he rejoined the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a contract that expires in 2018.
Burgess won five caps for England and appeared in the recent World Cup, but he has sought a return to league and his wish was granted after a transfer fee was agreed between Bath and Souths for the two seasons outstanding on his contract.
"I want to thank everyone at England and Bath for some great memories over the last 12 months," Burgess said.
The Aviva Premiership runners-up were understood to have demanded £750,000 to release him from the final two years of his contract, a figure that priced Super League champions Leeds out of the market and cleared the path for his return to Souths.
"We made our interest known and were ready to proceed had we been given the encouragement, but Souths were always favourites as long as they could include him in their salary cap for 2016," Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington said.
Bath are thought to have paid Souths a transfer fee of only £270,000.
Owner Bruce Craig and head coach Mike Ford had earlier this week declared Burgess would see out the remainder of his contract and stated the club had received no approaches for him.
"Sam is with us for the next two years and is under contract," said Craig, who answered "no" when asked if Burgess had requested permission to leave.
Ford even stated that Burgess, who was known to have grown disillusioned with life as a union player, had been picked on the bench for Saturday's Premiership clash with London Irish.
Burgess will be considered among the biggest cross-code flops in history, with England, Bath and the player himself shouldering varying degrees of blame for the failure of a move that began amid such high expectations.
At the top of the list will be England's coaching team who fast-tracked him into their World Cup squad despite a lack of evidence that he was ready for the global stage.
He started the loss to Wales and made replacement appearances against Fiji and Australia as the hosts' campaign unravelled spectacularly, ending in failure to progress from the group stage for the first time.
He was selected as an inside centre by England despite playing his best rugby last season at blindside flanker - the position where Bath were adamant that his union future lies.
One of his strongest critics has been Will Carling, although the former Red Rose captain's observations were confined to the belief he was being promoted too quickly.
JUST IN: It is now confirmed that @SamBurgess8 will return to the @NRL to play for @SSFCRABBITOHS in 2016. #9News pic.twitter.com/OvV2pNGpSd
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) November 5, 2015
Carling wrote on Twitter on Thursday: "So @SamBurgess8 has left Rugby Union. A sad end to a chapter that the England coaches handled so badly."
Upon completion of England 2015, Burgess came off the bench in the Premiership opener against Exeter before Ford decided he was jaded and needed time off to gather his thoughts.
He returned to training on Monday following a 10-day break in Spain.
After repeated denials of unrest by Craig and Ford, reports of his impending exit first emerged through the BBC on Thursday.
England will be blamed for their determination to include Burgess in their World Cup squad in defiance of logic, and the episode will surely be another nail in the coffin of Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team.
Bath were frustrated that he was unable to spend the summer learning his trade at the Recreation Ground, but their judgement in signing a player who became a big distraction and their overall handling of the situation will now be questioned.
And for Burgess himself, who repeatedly stated during the World Cup that he was determined to succeed, claiming to be impervious to criticism, his departure after a mere 12 months is surprising.
Former England hooker Brian Moore tweeted: "The Burgess story is a lesson in one thing - world cups are not the place to try out untested talent. RU fans did not want him to fail; too many wanted him to succeed too early & poor selection. Good luck to a great player."
