England prop Trevor Davidson quits Newcastle with immediate effect
Twice-capped England prop Trevor Davidson has exited Newcastle with immediate effect to permanently join Northampton, with Irish prop Oisin Heffernan moving in the opposite direction on loan until the end of the season. The Saints also confirmed the permanent departure of Ehren Painter to Exeter.
Front-rower Davidson was capped on two occasions by Eddie Jones in 2021, debuting off the bench versus the USA and then featuring again some months later versus Australia. A statement read: “Northampton Saints have signed England international Trevor Davison from Newcastle Falcons, with the 30-year-old prop arriving at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens with immediate effect.
“Primarily a tighthead but able to play on both sides of the scrum, Davidson has made over a century of appearances for Falcons since joining Newcastle from Blaydon RFC – with 79 of those coming in the Gallagher Premiership.
“The 6’2”, 122kg front rower had represented hometown club Blaydon since the age of 11, also being selected for England Counties on multiple overseas tours before making the step up into the full-time professional game.
“Davison’s impressive form within Newcastle’s imposing front row earned him an England call-up in June 2021, and he made his Test debut off the bench against the USA at Twickenham the next month. He has since earned one further cap against Australia in the 2021 Autumn Nations Cup and was included in Steve Borthwick’s wider training squad before this year’s Six Nations championship.”
Northampton boss Phil Dowson said: “We are absolutely delighted to sign a player of Trevor’s calibre for the remainder of this season and beyond. We are excited about what he can bring to our squad; he’s an international tighthead, he’s a top-quality operator in the Premiership, and crucially he’s another player whose attitude is all about improving his game.
“Trevor brings his reputation as a tough, competitive player with him to Northampton. He is someone who wants to be dominant in the set-piece, but also brings some real quality around the park as well as that toughness, so we’re confident he will be a great fit for us.”
Davison added: “I’ve really enjoyed watching Saints over the past few seasons – I like their style and the brand of rugby the team is playing, which is really entertaining. I’m at the stage of my career where I feel like I need a change; I’ve been in Newcastle my whole life, so when the opportunity arose to come to Northampton, I wanted to give it a shot.
“I have spoken to Robbie Smith, Joel Matavesi and all the boys I know from England camps about the Club, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the environment and the coaches here. The team is always there or thereabouts in the Gallagher Premiership’s top four come the end of the season, so I’m really looking forward to competing for some silverware and hopefully I can earn myself some more opportunities at international level as a result as well.”
Newcastle Falcons’ chairman of rugby Matt Thompson said: “It’s a shame to see Trevor go, especially mid-contract, and we were very much looking forward to having him as part of our squad next season. That being said, we have accepted his request to move on and will not stand in his way. It’s been a pleasure having him at Newcastle Falcons and we wish him all the best as he joins up with the Northampton Saints team.”
Northampton also confirmed that fellow props Painter and Heffernan have departed, Painter joining Exeter on a permanent deal and Heffernan loaned to Newcastle Falcons until the end of the season. Dowson explained: “Ehren has always been someone with a ‘Saints First’ attitude. He is a top man to have in the squad, but he has struggled this year for opportunities in the first team and he is desperate to try and find some more game time.
“Exeter wanted him immediately and with Trevor coming in, that worked out well with Oisin also moving in the opposite direction to Newcastle to cover for them. Oisin is still contracted with Saints next season and is another who needs more game time and an opportunity to show what he can do in the Premiership, so we will follow his progress with interest.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments