Gloucester sign five London Irish players after Exiles' demise

Michael Dykes scored seven tries in nine appearances for London Irish last season, including a hat-trick on his Premiership debut

Gloucester have signed five former London Irish players after the club went into administration last month.

Irish scrum-half Caolan Englefield, back-row Ben Donnell and winger Michael Dykes have all joined the senior squad.

Gloucester have also recruited fly-half Rory Taylor and prop Afolabi Fasogbon for their academy side.

The Exiles were suspended from the Premiership earlier this month and have since seen a large number of players leave to join other clubs.

Scrum-half Englefield, 23, played 13 times for Irish last season, starting three games, while 22-year-old Donnell scored two tries in nine appearances.

Dykes, who is 21, scored a hat-trick on his Premiership debut against Harlequins in January.

"With Ben, Caolan and Michael, we have three young guys that have already been impressing at senior level," Gloucester head coach George Skivington told the club website.

"We're also really excited to bring in Afolabi and Rory to our academy too.

"Irish have an excellent track record of bringing academy players through, and these are two of the brightest future prospects so we are delighted to have secured their future with us."