Attwood – who is now fit to play after a lengthy injury lay-off – will link up with the French side next week, before returning to Bath for pre-season ahead of the 2018/19 season.

“I’m really thankful to the Club for understanding and agreeing to my request to take up this opportunity,” said Attwood. “It’s been an incredibly frustrating time for me being injured, and this gives me the chance to get back playing and refresh myself mentally.

“I remain absolutely committed to Bath and am hugely appreciative of all the support from the Club and our supporters. This will be really helpful to me as a player, and person, in the longer-term and that in turn will benefit the team here. I’m looking forward to experiencing a different environment, a challenging league and new style of play and I’ll be absorbing all that information to bring back to Bath next season to see what we can use to help us push forward.”

Todd Blackadder, Director of Rugby at Bath, added: “We all want to see Dave back playing at the Rec in the Blue, Black, and White and we will do so, but in the interim we have agreed to this short-term loan with his best interests in mind, and in turn those of the Club over the longer term.

“We place a real emphasis on making sure that we look after our team as people, as well as players. I know that Dave will use the opportunity to learn from the players and teams in the Top 14, and then come back to us for pre-season raring to go. I’m sure everyone will join me in wishing him the best over the coming months.

“We have a very good group of locks in the squad who we have absolute trust in to keep performing until the end of the season. Charlie Ewels is back from injury now, and we’re expecting that Tom Ellis will also be back in the near future to add to that group.”

Attwood to join Toulon on loan

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