England World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson has agreed a two-year deal with Toulon.

The international record points scorer, who has been courted by Toulon for months now, will officially be confirmed as the club's star summer signing at a gala dinner at the Palais Neptune in the town tonight.

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The Newcastle Falcons player has been out of action since September 30th - following a dislocated kneecap - but Toulon are clearly prepared to take a risk on Wilkinson despite his awful injury record over the past five years.

The 29-year-old has reportedly agreed a two-year deal worth between €800,000 - €1m per season.

Club president Mourad Boudjellal had been keen to announce the deal some weeks ago but Wilkinson made it clear he would only complete the transfer if Toulon managed to stay up in Top 14.

Away victory at Dax (22-12) eight days ago confirmed their survival, and this weekend's 23-3 home win over Montpellier meant they finished the season in ninth position.

Incoming director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre was pitch-side for the first time for Saturday's home win against Montpellier - which also featured a try from player-coach Tana Umaga - and Wilkinson joins a raft of new arrivals heading to Toulon from across the Channel this summer.

Tom May, who deputised so successfully for Wilkinson at Newcastle this season, has already agreed terms, along with Cardiff's Jamie Robinson, Bristol's Joe El Abd, Saracens' Kris Chesney, Munster's Timmy Ryan and the Sale trio of Rory Lamont, Juan Martin Lobbe and Sebastien Bruno. They have also signed Clermont Auvergne duo Pierre Mignoni and Laurent Emmanuelli.

They have also signed veteran Argentine fly-half Felipe Contepomi from Leinster, but a serious knee injury has ruled him out of action for at least six months.

But it is Wilkinson's capture that will dominate global headlines as one of the game's highest profile players - and up to now a one-club man - signs on for a two-year sojourn in the South of France.

Wilkinson, who will be 30 on May 25, has scored 1,032 points in 70 international matches.

Boudjellal saw the impact - commercial and playing - that Perpignan's capture of Dan Carter had, and set his sights on securing a similar deal for his team.

Wilkinson's transfer caps a superb end to the season for Toulon, who won four of their last five games and who finished on Saturday with Umaga announcing that he would love to continue playing next season - posing an interesting dilemma for new head coach Saint-Andre. Umaga had been due to switch from his current role of head coach to a more specialised coaching job with the club's backs.

Umaga also admitted that he had learnt much about himself and his friends during a trying season, especially when Toulon were struggling for wins back in mid-winter.

"When you're a sportsperson and everything's going well you have lots of friends and everyone pats you on the back. When you're not winning though, you find out who your real friends are," he said.

Future team-mate Jamie Robinson, meanwhile, signed off with Cardiff at the weekend and promptly announced he was relieved to be moving to France to join Toulon.

"Of course I will miss it, but the last couple of months have also been very difficult for me and, in a way, I am also looking forward to getting out," said Robinson.

"A lot of people made it a difficult decision for me to leave, but a few also made it an easy choice. And those people know who they are," he added in a parting shot.

The Welsh centre also admitted that he was thankful Toulon had managed to avoid relegation to ProD2. "It was massively important to me Toulon stayed in the Top 14 and I am really looking forward to playing in the division next season," he said.

One player who won't be at Toulon next season is Czech international winger Martin Jagr, who has been released by the club after seven seasons.

The popular winger - leading scorer in ProD2 in during Toulon's promotion campaign of 2007/08 - admitted after Saturday's home win against Montpellier that he would be leaving with "a heavy heart" and that he would have preferred to go "in a different way".

But he was also realistic enough to know that Toulon's squad and ambitions have and will continue to change under Saint-Andre. Jagr further thanked the club's fans, who had organised a petition on Saturday to oppose the player's release.

Elsewhere in France the Castres centre Lionel Mazars has signed a two-year deal with Bayonne. The 24-year-old former Narbonne and Stade Toulousain player has one international cap to his name.

He is unlikely to feature in France coach Marc Lièvremont's summer plans, although the clash between the Top 14 final and the squad's departure for New Zealand means 'Les Bleus' are likely to field a 'B' team for the opening Test in Dunedin on June 13.

Lièvremont has confirmed that those partaking in the final (on June 6) will fly out a week later than the rest of the party and will not be considered for the first of France's two Tests against the All Blacks.

And Lievremont, who came under intense pressure during a disappointing Six Nations campaign, said he expected a tough summer as France tour New Zealand and Australia.

"I don't have any aims for the tour, in particular, because it's always extremely complicated for us to travel Down Under at this time of year, given the long and tiring season we've just had.

"I would've preferred to have opened the tour against Australia because I'd be fearful that we'd be a little fragile for the two matches against the All Blacks," he added.