Saints move quickly to fill Grayson void as Savala signs on loan from Edinburgh

The English-qualified 23-year-old, who arrived in Northampton on Tuesday, has joined with immediate effect.

Savala has made 33 appearances for Edinburgh since earning his debut during the 2020/21 United Rugby Championship season.

And he will help make up for the loss of Grayson, who is leaving Saints to pursue a playing opportunity in Japan.

Saints boss Phil Dowson said: “Charlie has a very good skillset. His pass-kick option is really good, and he’s a really confident guy who wants to come here and play, so we’re grateful to Edinburgh for allowing him the opportunity to come to Saints on loan.

“He’s obviously got a rugby league background, so he has got the ability to see space and put people into it.

“Charlie is a very ambitious young man and we’re keen to get him down to Northampton, and put him into our environment to see what he is capable of here.

“From chatting to him, he clearly wants to get better.

"Sam Vesty, Lee Radford and the rest of the crew are excited to coach him, and hopefully we can improve Charlie as a player during his time here with us.”

Charlie Savala’s rugby background…

Born in Sydney, Australia, Savala began his career in rugby’s other code – playing in Sydney Roosters’ academy before switching to union and moving to Scotland in 2020.

Standing at 193cm tall, the 102kg fly-half is comfortable both with ball in hand and in defence – with Savala maintaining a 93 per cent tackle success rate across his 15 appearances in the URC last season.

He was also Edinburgh’s most accurate goal-kicker during the 2023/24 URC season, as he landed 82 per cent of his attempts from the tee in the league.

Savala’s impressive performances throughout that campaign earned him a call-up to Scotland’s international squad during the 2023 Six Nations as injury cover, although he did not feature for Gregor Townsend’s side for the remainder of the Championship.