Northampton sign dual code England qualified flyhalf to fill void left by star's exit
Northampton Saints have finalized the loan signing of fly-half Charlie Savala from Edinburgh Rugby to address the void left by James Grayson, who is set to depart for Japan.
It was confirmed today that Grayson is to leave Saints mid-season in search of more playing time in Japan.
The 23-year-old, an English-qualified player with 33 appearances for Edinburgh since his debut in the 2020/21 United Rugby Championship season, has joined the Saints with immediate effect.
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Savala transitioned from rugby league to union, initially in the Sydney Roosters' academy, before relocating to Scotland in 2020.
Standing at an imposing 193cm and weighing 102kg, Savala is a versatile player, proficient both in ball handling and defensive duties. Notably, he maintained an impressive 93 per cent tackle success rate across 15 appearances in the URC last season and emerged as Edinburgh's most accurate goal-kicker during the 2023/24 URC season, landing 82 per cent of his attempts from the tee.
Savala's notable performances earned him a call-up to Scotland's international squad during the 2023 Six Nations as injury cover, showcasing his growing reputation on the rugby stage. Although he did not feature for Gregor Townsend's side in the remainder of the Championship, Savala's potential did not go unnoticed.
Phil Dowson, the Director of Rugby at Northampton Saints, expressed enthusiasm about incorporating Savala into the squad, especially considering the demanding schedule ahead, including Gallagher Premiership and Investec Champions Cup matches.
"Charlie has a very good skillset," Dowson remarked. "His pass-kick option is really good, and he's a confident guy who wants to come here and play, so we're grateful to Edinburgh for allowing him the opportunity to come to Saints on loan."
Dowson highlighted Savala's rugby league background, emphasizing his ability to read the game and exploit open spaces. The Saints coaching staff, including Sam Vesty and Lee Radford, is eager to work with Savala and contribute to his development during his time with the club.
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Some interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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