Tom West joins Saints

Loosehead prop Tom West will join Northampton Saints for the 2024/25 season and beyond, the Club can today confirm.

The 28-year-old front row arrives at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens from Gallagher Premiership rivals Saracens, having also had stints with Wasps and Leicester Tigers during his career so far.

West worked his way through Wasps’ Academy system while a student at Radley College, signing his first professional contract in 2015 and heading out on loan to Henley Hawks and then Nottingham Rugby before making his senior Wasps bow during the 2017/18 campaign.

In all the 6’1”, 117kg prop made 78 appearances in Wasps colours before the club went into administration, while also enjoying a successful World Rugby Under-20 Championship campaign with England.

West signed a short-term contract with Tigers to finish the 2022/23 season, making 11 appearances in total for Leicester, before moving to North London in July 2023 where he has played 11 times for Saracens so far this term.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to join Saints,” said West. “The Club is playing some fantastic rugby at the moment and on a personal level I got a great feeling about playing in Northampton from speaking to Phil Dowson and Matt Ferguson.

“I’m at a point in my career where I want to compete to play regularly, and I’m really looking forward to trying to grow my game with the coaches at Saints – who have a great record of helping players improve and hit their potential.

“I think I can really add a point of difference in the scrum and in the set piece. There’s great competition for places which I am looking forward to as well, and I hope I can add some experience into a relatively young and ambitious group of looseheads at the Club.

“Whenever I’ve had the chance to play in Northampton in the past, I’ve loved it. It’s a proper rugby club, in a rugby town, with incredibly passionate supporters who appreciate the game. I can’t wait to experience the community around the team.

“I played with Tom Cruse for years at Wasps, who is one of the best blokes you’ll ever meet, and he spoke so highly of the whole place. I never thought I’d say I’d be excited for a preseason, but I can’t wait to get in and get going with Saints.”

West was called into the senior England squad ahead of the 2021 Six Nations Championship, but is yet to be capped at Test level.

With 74 Gallagher Premiership appearances under his belt, plus another 15 in European competition, Saints’ Director of Rugby Phil Dowson believes West will add both experience and competition to the men in Black, Green and Gold’s front row.

He said: “There are some big changes coming in our loosehead department next season with Alex and Ethan Waller retiring, so we’re delighted to be bringing Tom into the squad.

“We’re very excited about the partnership that Manny Iyogun and Tarek Haffar are forming in that space, and we have a lot of depth there already with the likes of Trevor Davison, Elliot Millar Mills and Luke Green all able to play on both sides of the scrum.

“But we also wanted to bring someone else in to compete hard with those guys for a place in the team, and to bring some experience to the whole front row group.

“Tom is a guy with a great attitude who is really keen to improve and compete. He’s got excellent reviews from all the clubs he’s been at, he’s a really physical player who has played a lot of Premiership matches, and he still has some growth in him as well – all of which is really exciting for us.”