Freddie Burns to join Bath as George Ford leaves at the end of the season

Bath have announced the return of Freddie Burns as George Ford is set to leave the club at the end of the season.

“We are really excited to be working with Freddie next season," said Bath’s Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder.

''He is a fantastic player, who has really developed into an all-encompassing fly-half in the last couple of years and I’m looking forward to seeing that fit into our game here. We’ve now got two international fly-halves signed for next season in Freddie and Rhys Priestland, and I’ve no doubt that both will play a key role for us going forward.”

Since his arrival in 2014, Burns has played over 60 times for Tigers scoring over 1 000 Premiership points. He has earned 5 England Test caps scoring 57 points.

The club also confirms the departure of England fly-half George Ford who will leave to join Premiership side Leicester Tigers at the end of the season.

“We are of course sorry to lose George and wish him well, but we have been in discussions about his future for some time and are glad we have now been able to conclude this matter positively," said Tarquin McDonald, Managing Director at Bath.

"The agreement with Leicester suits all sides, with Bath securing not just appropriate compensation, but most importantly an excellent new player.“

Ford has over 80 caps for Bath scoring over 920 points, as well as 32 Test caps for England scoring more than 150 points.