Armitage has been with Irish for five years since moving from Saracens in 2006 and was a regular in the Exiles run to the Heineken Cup semi-finals three years ago.

He established himself as one of the standout opensides in the Premiership, leading to an RPA Player’s Player of the Season nomination last year.

However Armitage, who won the last of his five caps in a narrow 17-12 win over Italy in last year’s RBS 6 Nations, has put his international future in jeopardy after the RFU’s decision to stop picking foreign-based players after the World Cup.

Armitage will join fellow England internationals Jonny Wilkinson and Dean Schofield and will have the formidable task of filling the void left by the departing George Smith.

The signature follows the recruitment of Bakkies Botha and Matt Giteau as well as French internationals Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Alexis Palisson.

“He's a very fast player and very powerful, given his size and his weight,” said Toulon coach Phillippe Saint-Andre "He can also play at centre and he speaks French.”