Dowson salutes 'incredible athlete' Pearson as Saints sign England flanker

Pearson was left without a club after London Irish went into administration and were suspended from the Gallagher Premiership, but Saints moved quickly to secure his much-prized signature.

The 23-year-old was one of the stars of last season in England's top division, earning the Premiership’s breakthrough player of the season award and the RPA’s young player of the season honour.

And he has now become the third former London Irish player to join Saints in the space of just two days, following in the footsteps of lock Chunya Munga and prop Tarek Haffar.

“Tom is an incredible athlete, and is just going to get better the longer he is in the professional environment," Saints boss Dowson said.

“He’s very versatile, able to play across the back row, and thanks to his physicality, movement, and offloading game he can make significant impacts all over the park.

“We’ve got a determined group and a great record for developing players here at Saints, so we’re really excited to help Tom make further progress on the pitch.

“We’ve also been very impressed on a personal level with his ambition, maturity and drive – so we’re absolutely delighted to bring him to the club.”