Tom Collins to leave Northampton Saints

Northampton Saints can today confirm that wing Tom Collins will leave the Club at the end of the 2022/23 season.

The 28-year-old, Saint #1927, made his debut for the men in Black, Green and Gold back in 2013, and has gone on to make 144 appearances so far, scoring 48 tries along the way.

“I’ve absolutely loved my time at the Club, it’s been amazing for me and I’m very grateful to all the people I have played alongside and those who have enabled me to play rugby at the highest level,” said Collins.

“To represent my hometown Club has always been very special; I grew up just down the road, playing at Old Northamptonians, and I came up through the Academy system with a lot of the players who are in the first team with me now. With my Dad and Grandad playing for the Cobblers as well, it’s been cool to emulate the way they represented the Town in a different sport.

“So, it’s definitely been a tough decision to move on, but I feel like I am ready for a fresh start somewhere new. I want to go somewhere else to prove that I can play consistently at the very top level.

“You don’t get too long in a professional rugby career to experience different places and environments. I have been at Saints for ten years now, and I feel like I am ready for a new chapter.

Collins joined Saints’ Junior Academy as a teenager, having also spent time in Northampton Town FC’s youth team.

At Northampton School for Boys he impressed in Saints’ junior sides, and rose through the ranks at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens while also earning international honours, representing England up to Under-20 level and winning the 2013 Under-20 Six Nations.

He made himself a first-team regular during the 2013/14 campaign, starting the dramatic Premiership semi-final win over Leicester Tigers, and was named the LV= Premiership Breakthrough Player of the Season for his standout performances the following year.

Collins’ most appearances in a single season came in 2018/19, where he appeared 25 times in Black, Green and Gold as Northampton reached the knock-out stages of every competition and lifted the Premiership Rugby Cup.

After reaching 100 Saints appearances during the 2020/21 campaign against Bristol Bears, Collins claimed the Club’s Try of the Season award in 2021/22 as he finished a stunning length-of-the-field move against Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson, added: “TC is exactly what our Academy aims to produce; he’s a top-quality player and a very good person.

“He’s always been a ‘Saints First’ character, he’s fantastic within the environment here, and he’s always tried his absolute hardest to get in the team, play well, entertain the crowd, and achieve something with the Club.

“Tom came to us and said he felt like he had been at the Club a long time and needed a new challenge. I respect the fact that he wants to experience a new environment and see something different.

“It would be the easy thing for him to stay here at his hometown Club, where he’s comfortable, but he wants to push himself. I’ll miss him here, and we wish him all the best moving forwards.”