Harry Mallinder among four players to sign new deals with Northampton Saints

Northampton Saints have announced that four players including Harry Mallinder have agreed to new deals with the Gallagher Premiership club.

Mallinder will join the likes of Tom Collins, Paul Hill and Ahsee Tuala as the four players combined have made close to 400 appearances spread across 25 seasons.

Mallinder has been with Northampton Saints since his professional rugby debut in 2013 and has made over 50 appearances for the club. He also captained England Under 18 and England Under 20 sides.

Collins has been with Saints since 2010 and has racked up 92 appearances for the club and was club's second highest try scorer last season. Hill joined Northampton in 2015 after representing Otley, Darlington Mowden Park and Yorkshire Carnegie and has played 104 times for the club. He also featured for England five times with all the appearances coming in 2016.

Meanwhile, Tuala, who has played 22 Tests for Samoa has been with Saints since 2014 and has racked up 113 appearances including 79 in the Premiership. He was named the Saints’ Supporters Breakthrough Player of the Year award for his performances that term, and featured heavily the following two years with 55 appearances in all competitions and 14 tries.

“We’re absolutely delighted to sign these boys on,” he said. “They’re four Saintsmen who’ve been here for a long time, and are all an important part of the fabric of our organisation.

“They’ve all played a good chunk for us, but a few of them are still young too and they’re all important cogs in our machine.

“We’re not completely finished in terms of our recruitment and retention, but we’re getting very close to getting the balance we want.”

Northampton Saints are positioned fourth in the Gallagher Premiership table with six wins from 11 games and will face Saracens in the 12th Round at Franklin's Gardens on 29th February.