ROGER WILSON
Position: No 8
Age: 26
Prev club: Ulster
Honours: Ireland, Ireland A

Roger has been the lynchpin of the Ulster back row since 2003. He is one of the quickest players to reach 100 appearances, thanks to a superb injury record. Last season he spent more time on the pitch than any other Ulster player. Won Ulster Player of the Year in 2004/05 and Bank of Ireland Player of the Year in 2006/07. Won Ireland caps against Japan in 2005 and is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in Irish rugby – Roger is tipped to win many more caps. He was part of the Ireland A Churchill Cup squads in 2006 and 2007.

NILS MORDT
Position: Centre
Age: 24
Prev club: London Irish
Honours: England Saxons, England Sevens

Joins the Saints after six seasons at London Irish. Played 12 against the Saints on the last day of 2006/07. Played in the 2007 Churchill Cup final, which Saxons won against the Maori and represented England at U16, U18 and U21. Won a Commonwealth Games silver medal with England Sevens and has played in the IRB World Sevens Series. Nils is the nephew of Springbok legend, Ray Mordt.

NEIL BEST
Position: Flanker
Age: 28
Prev club: Ulster
Honours: Ireland

Neil made his debut for Ulster in 2002 and has since gone on to make well over 100 appearances for the province. He is regarded as an uncompromising and dynamic flanker who won man of the match in Ireland’s win over Australia in November 2006. Neil made his international debut against the All Blacks in 2005 and toured New Zealand and Australia (2006) and Argentina (2007) before making four appearances in the World Cup. He has won 18 caps. Neil is popular with fans and was the Ulster Rugby Supporters’ Club Player of the Season in 2006/07.

CHRIS MAYOR
Position: Centre
Age: 25
Prev club: Sale Sharks
Honours: England Sevens

Chris is a 6’2”, 98kg centre who debuted for Sale against Newcastle in 2003. He has made 63 appearances in the Guinness Premiership and scored 11 tries, including one in the Sharks’ 2006 Premiership Grand Final victory. Chris has also played 24 times in European competition and has scored five tries in Sale’s European Challenge Cup campaign so far this season. He is a former England Under-21 international who has also played for England Sevens.

BEN FODEN
Position: Scrum-half
Age: 22
Prev club: Sale Sharks
Honours: England Sevens

Ben is an extremely talented footballer and is regarded as one of the best up and coming scrum-halves in the country. He made 30 appearances for Sale last season and won man of the match three times. Ben also won a Premiership winners’ medal in 2006 and played in the Grand Final. He is a physical player with great acceleration and all-round ball skills. Ben has plenty of European experience as well, having played in the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup, which he helped Sale win in 2005.

IGNACIO FERNANDEZ LOBBE
Position: Second row
Age: 33
Prev club: Sale Sharks
Honours: Argentina

Ignacio is a powerful lock who brings plenty of leadership and experience to the squad. He joins us after four seasons at Sale Sharks, where he won the 2006 Guinness Premiership and 2005 European Challenge Cup. He has also won 64 caps for Argentina and played in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 World Cups, helping Argentina to achieve third place in last year’s competition. Ignacio was also part of the Argentine squad that won at Twickenham in 2006. He has also played for Castres and Bordeaux in France.

LEE DICKSON
Position: Scrum-half
Age: 23
Prev club: Newcastle Falcons
Honours: England Saxons

In the past two seasons Lee has established himself as one of England’s up and coming scrum-halves. A member of the 2007 Churchill Cup-winning squad, Lee was the subject of a remarkable tug of war that saw him selected in both the Scotland ‘A’ and Saxons squads (thanks to his being born in Germany to an English mother and Scottish father). He also played in the England Under-21 Grand Slam-winning side of 2006. This season he has played 23 times in all competitions and in all he has played over 50 times for the Falcons.

SCOTT GRAY
Position: Flanker
Age: 30
Prev club: Doncaster
Honours: Scotland

Originally from Zimbabwe, Scott moved to Australia as an18-year-old and played in Canberra for a year. He then spent two years in the ACT Brumbies academy before winning a training contract in Brisbane with the aim of playing Super 12 rugby. He switched code to league and had a stint with the Brisbane Broncos before moving to Bath and then to the Border Reivers, where he played against the Saints in last season’s Heineken Cup. Scott joined Doncaster when the Reivers were disbanded last summer and scored two tries when the Knights played at Franklin’s Gardens last October.

ALAN DICKENS
Position: Scrum-half
Age: 32
Prev club: Saracens

Turned to professional rugby relatively late in 2001 when he signed to Sale Sharks from NL2 club Manchester. After a season at Sale Alan joined Leeds, who he helped win the Powergen Cup in 2005. He made 72 appearances in his three seasons at Leeds but left to join Saracens in 2005. So far he has played for Saracens nearly 50 times.

BEN BROSTER
Position: Prop
Age: 26
Prev club: Llanelli Scarlets
Honours: Wales

Born in London, Ben joins the Saints after a season at Stradey Park playing for the Scarlets. Prior to that the tight-head prop was at Saracens, where he made 62 appearances in four years. Ben was a member of the Wales squad that toured the USA and Canada in the summer of 2005, and was capped in games against both teams. He came off the bench to win his first cap against USA and scored a try on his debut start against Canada. He was educated at Hurstpierpoint College and started his career coming though the ranks at Haywards Heath RFC.

CHRISTIAN DAY
Position: Second row
Age: 24
Prev club: Stade Francais
Honours: England U21

After spending seven years at Sale Sharks, Christian joins the Saints after a three-month contract at French giants Stade Francais. Indeed Northampton will only be his third professional club! Winning silverware is no stranger to the 6ft 6in second row as he collected medals for both the Guinness Premiership (2006) and European Challenge Cup (2005) while at Edgeley Park. Still in his early-20s, there is still plenty to come from this former England Under-21 captain.

STUART FRISWELL
Position: Hooker
Age: 25
Prev club: Coventry
Honours: England U21

Stuart arrives at Franklin’s Gardens after a two-year stint at his home-town club Coventry. He is a graduate of the Leicester Tigers Academy and won England Under-21 honours at the 2004 IRB World Championships. Before joining Coventry Stuart played for Plymouth Albion and he played against the Saints in National League One last season.

They will join the following players in the 2008/09 Saints and Senior Academy squads:
Backs - Grant Anderson, Joe Ansbro, Chris Ashton, John Brake, Jon Clarke, Paul Diggin, James Downey, Barry Everitt, Nick Greenhalgh, Will Harries, Sean Lamont, Stephen Myler, Bruce Reihana, Carlos Spencer, Neil Starling.

Forwards - James Cannon, Mark Easter, Owen Giles, Joe Gray, Dylan Hartley, Mark Hopley, Phil Hoy, Courtney Lawes, Ben Lewitt, Matt Lord, Rob Milligan, Euan Murray, Liam Neale, Alex Rae, Paul Shields, Tom Smith, Barry Stewart, Soane Tonga'uiha, Jon Vickers, Dave Ward.