Waldouck joins Northampton rugby club

Wasps centre Dominic Waldouck is set to leave the Premiership club and join league rivals Northampton for the 2012-13 season, his current club confirmed on Thursday. The 24-year-old had come through Wasps' academy, helping them win the European Cup in 2007 and the Premiership title a year later. But with the club narrowly avoiding relegation to the Championship last term, the three-quarter handed in a transfer request. "We are really disappointed to lose Dom, who we were hoping to play an important role in our squad next season," said Wasps director of rugby Dai Young. "However, despite our attempts to talk him round, he has been adamant that he needs a fresh start and it wouldn't do any of us any good to keep him here against his will. "Dom's ultimate aim is to get back in the England reckoning and he feels he needs to be playing for a side competing at the top of the Aviva Premiership and in the Heineken Cup to do so." Waldouck, who has yet to be capped by England but was in the squads that toured New Zealand in 2008 and Australasia in 2010, added: "This has been a really difficult decision to arrive at but I feel it is right for me at this stage in my career."