Saracens loosehead prop Tom West will leave the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions at the end of the season to join Northampton Saints.
The Falcons are rooted to 10th and last place in the current Gallagher Premiership campaign, but the capture of Wilkinson is the club’s sixth signing ahead of what will be their first full campaign with Diamond at the helm following last January’s sacking of Alex Codling.
Experience the thrill of Premiership Rugby, the top division of rugby union in England. This annual league season is contested by the highest ranking English clubs and is packed with top-level talent. Held between September and June, Premiership Rugby is widely recognised as one of the best leagues in professional rugby.
Eager to keep up with the action? Here at RugbyPass, you can follow the latest news about this year’s teams, discover upcoming fixtures and see the latest results. Scroll down to make sure you never miss a moment of Premiership Rugby.
Premiership Rugby, which is also known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby for sponsorship purposes, has existed since 1987. The tournament was first known as the Courage League National Division One (1987-1997) and has undergone numerous sponsorship and name changes since. Over this period, it has been known as the Allied Dunbar Premiership (1997-2000), Zurich Premiership (2000-05), Guinness Premiership (2005-10) and Aviva Premiership (2010-18).
Since its inception, 28 teams have participated in the tournament. To date, Bath, Gloucester and Leicester Tigers have been the only Premiership Rugby teams to participate in every season.
In Premiership Rugby fixtures, the stakes are high. Twelve teams play each other home and away in a league system that comprises 26 rounds. At the conclusion of the season, the top four teams enter the play-offs. Following the semi-finals, a final is held at Twickenham and the winner of this match is crowned as champions.
When the season draws to a close, the top seven teams in the Premiership Rugby standings qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup and the remainder play in the European Rugby Challenge Cup instead. This means that every Premiership Rugby team also represents England in European competition.
