SARACENS have beaten rivals Gloucester to land French international hooker Raphael Ibanez from Castres on what is believed to be a two-year deal.

The Men in Black, who have been tracking Ibanez for the last three weeks, lured the former French captain to Vicarage Road on a contract reported to be worth around £200,000 a year, much to the delight of Sarries chief executive Mark Sinderberry.

“I’m very impressed with the quality of the man,” Sinderberry said. “He has a great amount of experience and is very hungry for success with the club, and as well as his obvious rugby skills he’s a fantastic leader. He’s excited about joining up, and we’re very excited to have him.” The 30-year-old – who has played for his country 63 times – will make his international swan-song at the World Cup in Australia this autumn, releasing him from Six Nations commitments and leaving the former Perpignan player free to play for Saracens for the whole of the second half of the season; a challenge he is certainly relishing: "Rugby is a passion and I enjoy training and playing. I’m very much looking forward to playing for Saracens and becoming a member of the squad. Getting to know new people is always great and I’m certain that me and my family will enjoy the experience of living and working in England,” Ibanez said.

“In my move to Saracens I know that I can keep getting better as a player with so many talented players in the squad, and the tough competition in the league. It’s hard to imagine exactly what it will be like, but I can’t wait to see. I have known the French rugby system for some ten years, and want this as a rugby challenge,” he added.

Ibanez, who consulted with fellow countrymen Thomas Castaignéde, Abdel B Benazzi and Christian Califano before making the switch to Hertfordshire, continues Saracens' strong links with French rugby, which first started with the arrival of Phillipe Sella in 1996, and, like those players, Ibanez, France's most capped hooker ever, relishes the chance to play in the Zurich Premiership after spending his whole career in French club rugby.

Born in Dax, Ibanez started his career for his home town team before being snapped up by Perpignan in 1997, where he spent two years before making the switch to Castres.

However, it is Ibanez's remarkable rise to international prominence which propelled him into the rugby spotlight. Since captaining the French University side to the Junior World Cup in 1996 – and making his full international debut later that year – Ibanez won the A Grand Slam title in 1997 before leading France to the Grand Slam proper the following year. Most memorably though, Ibanez captained France to the World Cup Final in 1999 – where they lost against Australia – beating tournament favourites New Zealand en-route.

Ibanez's international career then nose-dived, finding himself out of favour as new coach Bernard Laporte replaced Jean-Claude Skrela at the helm, before he was reinstated for France's 2003 Six Nations campaign.

Currently resting alongside other key players ahead of the World Cup – while the majority of his team-mates are on a tour of Argentina – Ibanez is hopeful of a glorious farewell to international rugby in September: “I’m relaxing right now with my family. In the World Cup, I think that we have the opportunity to win as we have an incredibly strong squad with an enormous amount of potential. There will be a lot of pressure on us as we have a tough group, but we can do it.” What will be of more interest to Saracens fans though, will be how he can help bring unity to a forward line which – after the arrival of the Frenchman, Simon Rawailui, Alex Codling and the likely appearance of another two props, coupled with the absence of the talismanic Richard Hill for much of the season – will bear little resemblance to last season's side.

However, the arrival of the former French captain should do much to appease the supporters after the summer departure of David Flatman, Stuart Hooper, Califano and Benazzi.