According to a report in The Mirror, England international Noon – who has 38 caps - has signed to join the growing British enclave at Brive, while May will continue to play alongside Wilkinson after agreeing terms with Toulon.

Wilkinson’s €700,000 per year deal with Toulon has yet to be officially announced, although both sides have confirmed that talks are underway. It is thought the player’s arrival will only be confirmed once Toulon have secured their Top 14 survival – something that appeared a done deal after Saturday’s stunning 14-6 home win against Stade Toulousain.

But Dax’s shock win later that evening away to Montauban – coupled with Mont-de-Marsan’s home win against Castres – means the relegation battle is still alive. Toulon are currently eight points clear of the drop zone with just three games remaining, however, and remain odds-on to stay up.

Toulon’s incoming director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre has been overseeing a rigorous recruitment policy over the past two months and knows Premiership players well thanks to his time spent coaching at Sale Sharks and Gloucester.

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Last week he confirmed that Wilkinson’s advisors were talking to club president Mourad Boudjellal, while Saracens veteran Kris Chesney announced that he would also be a Toulon player next season.

Leinster’s Argentine fly-half Felipe Contepomi is also on his way, together with Cardiff Blues’ international centre Jamie Robinson, while former Australian rugby league star Sonny Bill Williams has penned a one-year contract extension.

Now it appears that May, 30, will also be donning Toulon’s black and red shirt next season, with reports in England claiming he will double his salary by moving to France.

The lucrative financial rewards currently on offer in Top 14 are partly due to the strength of the euro against the pound, and also because there is currently no salary cap – although that is set to change in the future.

The combination of these two factors – together with the enhanced ‘lifestyle’ on offer – is proving a tremendous lure to British-based players, a fact borne out by confirmed transfers of Wasps trio Riki Flutey, Tom Palmer and James Haskell earlier this year.

Palmer and Haskell have both agreed to join Paris giants Stade Francais, while Flutey will be joining England colleague Andy Goode at Brive – who already have the likes of Steve Thompson, Damien Browne, Alex Popham, Ben Johnstone and Barry Davies on their books.

Leicester Tigers’ Erinle Ayoola, an England sevens international, has also signed to play in France season, joining Magnus Lund at Biarritz, while former England internationals Ollie Smith and Perry Freshwater remain at Montpellier and Perpignan respectively. The Catalans also have two Scots currently on their books – Nathan Hines and Chris Cusiter, although the latter is returning to Glasgow at the end of the season.

The only English player returning from France to England at present is Brive’s Ben Cohen, but even he admitted that his decision was prompted by personal rather than professional reasons.

This wave of English players fleeing the Guinness Premiership in preference for Top 14 recently prompted the RFU warn players they could harm their international prospects by playing in France.

However, it was widely viewed that the RFU’s stance – it wrote to all of the players currently in its Elite Player Squad (EPS) – was no more than window dressing in an attempt to save face after agreeing a multi-million pound deal with Guinness Premiership clubs.

The essence of that agreement was that the clubs would release members of the EPS for England training squads, match preparation and various monitoring programmes, as well as limiting the number of games they would play in a season. The deal is binding for Premiership clubs, but not so for clubs based in France.

That is seriously worrying the head honchos at the RFU, who fear they may have effectively thrown good money – and bundles of it – down the drain if the player exodus to France continues.

Haskell’s departure is the one that worries them most because he is only 24, whereas most of the other signings have been players either in their late 20s or early 30s. But Haskell has been at pains recently to confirm that Stade Francais will facilitate all of his England commitments, while Brive CEO Simon Gillham said his club would always do likewise with its England internationals.