Northampton Saints have signed former Worcester Warriors fly-half Fin Smith in a “multi-year deal”.
But the players had their contracts terminated last week after the club were suspended for the rest of the season because of financial problems.
“Fin is definitely a player who has been on our radar for a long time,” said Saints boss Phil Dowson.
“He is someone that always takes the ball to the line, makes good decisions from an attacking point of view, has a bit of flair about him with an offloading game, and is incredibly brave and tough in defence.
“If you put that sort of skillset together with that attitude, you’ve got a really high-potential player who is really keen to compete – but at the age of just 20 he’s got a lot of learning and growing to do as well.”
Smith, who has 10 England Under-20s caps, was the youngest-ever player to start for Warriors in the Premiership in March 2021 at the age of 18 years and 313 days against Bath.
He will provide an extra fly-half option for Saints, alongside Wales international Dan Biggar – who leaves at the end of the season – and James Grayson.
Smith is the grandson of former Scotland and British and Irish Lions loose-head prop Tom Elliot and the fourth player to sign permanently for a new club since last week’s confirmation that Worcester’s season is over and they will be relegated from the top flight.
Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe has returned to Edinburgh, hooker – and another Scotland and Lions international – Rory Sutherland has signed for Ulster, while forward Joe Batley has joined Bristol Bears.
Warriors will always be ‘special’ to Smith
Four players – England internationals Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill, plus forwards Fergus Lee-Warner and Valery Morozov – signed loan deals at Bath two days before the Warriors’ players had their contracts cancelled, following the winding up of the part of the club that paid them – WRFC Players Ltd – in the High Court.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play a couple of matches at Franklin’s Gardens already, and the atmosphere around the ground is always electric.
“I can’t wait to compete for the opportunity to run out there week in, week out,” Smith said.
“The recent uncertainly has obviously been incredibly difficult for everyone at Worcester, and I will miss the players, coaches and supporters there – the last couple of months have shown what a special club it is.
“Having grown up at Sixways, Warriors will always have a special place in my heart, but I know this is the right move for me at this stage of my career, and I’m looking forward to hopefully hitting the ground running in Northampton.”
