Toulon-bound Ludlam targets silverware send-off at Saints as departure is confirmed

On Monday morning, it was confirmed that the club captain will be exiting cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens this summer.

Ludlam is set to head to the Top 14 to join Toulon, where he will link up with former Saints team-mates David Ribbans and Dan Biggar.

But first, the 28-year-old wants to ensure Saints secure silverware in the Gallagher Premiership and Investec Champions Cup.

“Ever since I started playing rugby as an eight-year-old, I dreamed of being a Saint,” said Academy graduate Ludlam, who has made 121 appearances for Saints to date.

“While the journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing, our supporters have made every moment special for me – both the good and the bad.

“I feel extremely fortunate to have played with some great players and even better blokes, to have been coached day in, day out by some of the best coaches in the game, and looked after physically by people who truly care in the strength and conditioning and medical departments.

“This has been an extremely tough decision for me. I believe I've given everything physically and emotionally to this club, and I hope our fans have seen how much it has meant to me to represent Northampton in the way I play the game.

“At the end of the season, I say goodbye as a player to start a new adventure, but I will always be a Saints man.

"Until then, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that my final goodbye at the end of the season is singing ‘Shoe Army’ with silverware in hand.”

Lewis Ludlam fact file

Ludlam is a product of Northampton’s Academy set-up, making his debut in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2016 against Newcastle Falcons

Ludlam earned his first senior contract with the club in 2016 after representing Saints at Under-18 level and progressing through the ranks at Ipswich RFC and Colchester RFC, while also playing for St Joseph’s College in Suffolk.

He helped the Wanderers side scoop back-to-back Premiership Rugby A League titles in 2017 and 2018, before bursting into the first team during former director of rugby Chris Boyd’s first season at the helm in Northampton.

That breakthrough year culminated in a trip to the Rugby World Cup in Japan with England – he earned six caps during the side’s run to the final of the tournament, and took his international tally up to 25 over the next four years, before representing the Red Rose again at the 2023 tournament in France.

Ludlam was first named a co-captain of the club alongside Alex Waller in November 2020, before being handed the responsibility on his own in 2021/22.

He brought up a century of Saints appearances against Newcastle Falcons in the final league match of that season, and skippered Northampton to back-to-back Premiership semi-final appearances in 2022 and 2023.