'A great privilege' - London Irish delighted to complete signing of Saints wing Collins

The 28-year-old will move to Irish this summer, having spent more than a decade as part of the Saints first team.

Collins has so far racked up 145 appearances for the black, green and gold, scoring 50 tries.

And he will hope to sign off in style as Saints have a Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final to look forward to next month.

“I’ll always be grateful to Northampton, it’s the club I have grown up supporting and was lucky enough to play for, but I felt my time was coming to an end and a new opportunity was on the horizon,” Collins said.

“Irish reached out and I was really encouraged by the project the club is working under with Declan (Kidney) and Les (Kiss), I feel like it will be a great fit for me.

“I’m proud to now call myself an Exile and can’t wait to link up with the boys at Hazelwood.”

Academy product Collins made his debut for Saints against Gloucester in January 2013.

He made 13 appearances the following season as the black, green and gold claimed a memorable Premiership and European Challenge Cup double.

Collins has reached double figures in appearances in five of the past six seasons, but he will now be heading to pastures new.

And London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney said: “I’d like to welcome Tom to London Irish.

"He has shown in his time with Northampton what a capable player he is and having him as our player now is a great privilege.

“We are really excited to be welcoming in a player of Tom’s calibre and we are all confident he will become a valuable member of our squad at Irish.”