Saracens have signed from Northampton Saints and Bath hooker Brett Sharman on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

The 27-year-old South African left Northampton in August 2012 when his contract was terminated following a lengthy knee injury.

Sharman has since played in the Premiership in December 2012 with Bath, before being let go at the end of another short-term contract.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall told the club's website: “Brett has plenty of Premiership experience and we believe he will fit in to our environment extremely well.”

Born in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, Sharman began his professional career with Pretoria outfit Blue Bulls, before moving to England to join Northampton in 2009.

Sharman made 49 Premiership appearances for Northampton and Bath and arrives after Sarries were robbed of the services of first-choice hooker Schalk Brits due to knee ligament damage.