Saracens announce Vincent Koch and Sean Maitland signings

Saracens on Monday announced their latest signings South African prop Vincent Koch and Scotland wing Sean Maitland for the upcoming season.

Both Kock and Maitland have agreed on a two-year deal with the Aviva Premiership champions and will be joining the club along with the other recruits in Schalk Burger, Mark Flanagan, Alex Lozowski and Save Rawaca.

Koch, who has made two appearances for the Springboks in 2015 was named in the South Africa A squad to face England Saxons and was denied a national contract.

The 26-year-old will join Mark McCall's team at the completion of the 2015 Super Rugby season with the Stormers.

Apart from defending their Aviva Premiership title, Saracens also won the European Champions Cup for the first time and Koch believes it will be an "honour" to represent the London based club.

"I am very honoured and privileged to join a champion team like Sarries.

“Ever since I visited Saracens I just knew that they would be the perfect club for me.

“I'm really looking forward to join the boys for the upcoming season to begin the hard work for the 2016/17 campaign."

Meanwhile, Maitland, who has represented Scotland 21 times including four matches at the World Cup, will be making a switch from the relegated London Irish club to Saracens.

It was only in 2015, Maitland moved to the Exiles club and scored two tries from the 14 matches while he was a part of Glasgow Warriors for three years between 2012 and 2015 where he scored 50 points from 38 matches.

The 27-year-old, who was picked by head coach Vern Cotter for Scotland's upcoming tour of Japan said he is excited to be joining Saracens and believes his style of play will suit the recently crowned double champions more.

Maitland also thanked London Irish for their support and hopes they can make a return to the Aviva Premiership in the 2017/18 season.

"When I was approached about joining Saracens I had no hesitation in accepting the opportunity to join up with their squad.

"The results they have achieved this season speak for themselves but what really appealed was the burning desire from the coaches to continuously improve and evolve.

“I think the surface at Allianz Park will suit my game and I look forward to meeting up with my new teammates in the summer.

"I've really enjoyed my time at London Irish this season despite the obvious disappointment in getting relegated. There are some great people and players there, and I am sure that the talent within the squad will see them back in the premiership in 2017/18."

Saracens director of rugby McCall expressed his happiness on the new signings made by the club and is confident of defending the championship again in the upcoming season.

"Having already announced a number of signings earlier this year, we are pleased to have finally secured each of our targets.

"We identified Vincent as a player who could make a significant contribution to the squad at tighthead prop and at 26 he is a player with huge potential.

"Sean is a highly experienced and proven international three quarter, and we believe that he will flourish here.

"Both players are exactly the kind of characters we think will thrive in our environment, and we are confident they will become key players for Saracens."