Gloucester sign Slater to cover May
The experienced forward can operate at lock or flank, and has made over 130 appearances for the Tigers and was part of the 2013 squad that lifted the Premiership title.
Slater possesses great leadership skills, having been named club captain at Welford Road in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 campaigns, as well as captaining England against Crusaders in Christchurch on the summer tour of 2014 and the Cherry and Whites are delighted to have been able to secure the signing of a player that they have admired for several seasons.
Director of Rugby David Humphreys commented on the news and following the signing of Slater.
"We are really happy that Ed Slater has agreed to join Gloucester.
"I have long been an admirer of Ed. Through With his leadership, experience and power, he can add to our forward pack and we have tried to bring him to Kingsholm in the past previously.
"We firmly believe that Gloucester is an exciting club to be at, with a bright future under Johan Ackermann, and we are excited to see what Ed can bring to the Cherry and White jersey.
"We've made no secret of our intent to have an abrasive forward unit and Ed's skillset is exactly what we have been looking for,"
As part of the deal, the club can also confirm that winger Jonny May will leave the club to sign a contract with Leicester Tigers.
The club were recently made aware of the desire of the player to depart the club, and following negotiations can confirm the player will move on ahead of the new 2017/18 season and take up a deal at Welford Road.
David Humphreys said about May's departure;
"Jonny approached the club and explained he wanted to leave Gloucester and immediately our attention turned to strengthening the squad and the type of person we needed to recruit.
"Johan [Ackermann] has made it very clear that we need to dominate teams up front if we are to be successful and we feel that Ed's inclusion in the squad will add a lot to that key objective.
"Ed's leadership ability will also be a great influence on the rest of the pack and he brings tremendous experience.
"Jonny has been a big part of Gloucester over the past 9 years and everybody at the club wishes him the best in his future career. He has been an outstanding player, and very popular with the Gloucester supporters. But once he decided he didn't want to play for the Club again we had to move on and strengthen the squad ahead of the new season.”
