In the past two seasons 23-year-old 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. Dickson was the starting scrum-half for the Saxons in this year’s Six Nations.

Dickson joins the Saints from Newcastle Falcons, for whom he has played over 50 times. He made his first team debut in 2004/05 while still in the Falcons’ academy, and was named the Academy Player of the Season that same year. Dickson has been a regular in the Falcons first team squad for the past two seasons and during this campaign he has played 23 times in all competitions.

“Moving to Northampton is going to be a massive development for my career,” said Dickson. “I know Jim Mallinder and Dorian West quite well through the Saxons. They’ve done good things with the team this year and I know what they want for the club. Everyone knows how massive Northampton is as a club and playing there will be a good change for me and my career.

“It will be emotional leaving the Falcons. I’ve been there since I was 18 and hold Newcastle close to my heart. But the time has come to move on and further my career at the Saints.”

“Lee is a talented and ambitious young scrum-half,” said director of rugby Jim Mallinder. “Over the past two seasons he has demonstrated his quality repeatedly at Newcastle, and last summer he also showed that he is comfortable in the international game with the Saxons. Despite still being a young player he has plenty of experience in the Premiership and in European competition. He is a great signing for us and competition for the Saints’ number nine jersey will be fierce next season. This will only help us raise standards within our squad.”