Saints land Stormers scrum-half Nic Groom

The two-time Currie Cup winner recently made his 50th Super Rugby appearance for Stormers and has featured 59 times for Western Province in the Currie Cup.

Groom, who played for Barbarians against Samoa before the World Cup last year, has now opted to make the switch to England with a Saints side that missed out on the play-offs this season.

Director of rugby Jim Mallinder said: "Nic is a talented player and we believe he will be a great addition to our squad next season,

"He has shown over the last few years that he has the ability to manage a game and to captain and lead a team.

"He has a lot of experience in Super Rugby, coming up against some of the world's best players every week, and this will be invaluable as he competes for the scrum-half position with Lee Dickson and Tom Kessell."

Stormers wing Leolin Zas was hit with a two-week ban on Monday following his high tackle on Waratahs fly-half Bernard Foley in Saturday's 32-30 defeat.