Monday 7 August 2017 11:41, UK
Leicester Tigers and Gloucester have confirmed the respective signings of Jonny May and Ed Slater from each other in a transfer swap.
May, who had been with Gloucester since 2009, registered 62 tries in 138 games for the club, posting 41 scores in 91 Premiership appearances and five in the European Cup from 13 games.
The 27-year-old wing has also scored nine times for England in 27 Tests, and Tigers head coach Matt O'Connor admitted his delight at the signing.
"We are absolutely delighted to add to the quality of our backs with the signing of Jonny May," O'Connor said.
"Jonny is a proven international and has played a lot of rugby at Premiership and Test level and will add a lot of experience to the squad.
"He is an out-and-out finisher with an outstanding try-scoring record and I think he is a fantastic addition to the group."
Second row Slater joins Gloucester after seven seasons with Leicester and club director of rugby David Humphreys confirmed the 29-year-old was exactly the type of signing new coach Johan Ackermann was after.
"We are really happy that Ed Slater has agreed to join Gloucester.
"I have long been an admirer of Ed. Through With his leadership, experience and power he can add to our forward pack and we have tried to bring him to Kingsholm in the past previously.
"We firmly believe that Gloucester is an exciting club to be at, with a bright future under Johan Ackermann, and we are excited to see what Ed can bring to the Cherry and White jersey.
"We've made no secret of our intent to have an abrasive forward unit and Ed's skillset is exactly what we have been looking for.
"Jonny (May) approached the club and explained he wanted to leave Gloucester and immediately our attention turned to strengthening the squad and the type of person we needed to recruit.
"Johan (Ackermann) has made it very clear that we need to dominate teams up front if we are to be successful and we feel that Ed's inclusion in the squad will add a lot to that key objective.
"Ed's leadership ability will also be a great influence on the rest of the pack and he brings tremendous experience."
