Northampton Saints

Newcastle Falcon captain Will Welch is happy with his team's form as they prepare to take on table-topping Northampton Saints tomorrow (Friday).

Wasps' recent improvement continued with a win over Gloucester while there were also post-Christmas Aviva Premiership wins for London Irish, Bath, Leicester, Saracens and Northampton.

England and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley is likely to learn the outcome of his latest disciplinary hearing before Christmas.

George North believes Wales' overseas-based stars are "relieved" by the fall-back option provided by the new dual-contract system.

England forwards Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes have both signed new contracts with Aviva Premiership champions Northampton.

There’s sure to be a lot of well-groomed whiskers on display at the Kassam Stadium on Sunday (KO 2:30pm) as first takes on second in the Aviva Premiership Rugby Network Challenge table.

Northampton centre Luther Burrell may be ruled out of England's autumn internationals after picking up a hand injury during his side's European Champions Cup victory over the Ospreys.

George North scored four tries as Northampton beat the Ospreys in Pool Five while Glasgow held on to beat Montpellier in Pool Four of the European Champions Cup.

European Champions Cup round 1 preview: Saracens boss Mark McCall says that despite his side reaching the final of the Heineken Cup last season, this year's Champions Cup campaign could be an even harder slog.

The Pisi brothers, George and Ken, have been a revelation since arriving in Northampton.

England have received a promising medical bulletin from Northampton after forwards Tom Wood and Dylan Hartley were named in the Saints squad for Saturday's Aviva Premiership clash with Sale.

England prop Alex Corbisiero will again miss out on international action in this autumn's international Test series after suffering a shoulder injury this weekend.

The Premiership picks are coming through thick and fast and this week, week three of the feature, we at Talking Rugby Union wanted to bring you the best tries of the weekend.

In the second instalment of Talking Rugby Union's 'Pick of the Premiership' series, we have two enormous hits from the last round of action to whet your mid-week appetites ahead of next weekend.

Northampton returned to a winning formula in the Aviva Premiership with an emphatic 35-10 triumph over Newcastle Falcons.

Northampton's devastating start to their Aviva Premiership title defence is now a distant memory after they crashed to a 20-16 defeat against Wasps at Adams Park.

George North led the rout as Northampton opened their Aviva Premiership title defence by making a mockery of rebuilt Gloucester's optimism for the new season.

After a fantastic summer of rugby that has included sevens at the Commonwealth Games, internationals in the southern hemisphere and the start of the Rugby Championship, domestic rugby has finally come back to English shores for the start of the Aviva Premiership.

For 22-year-old George North the rise to international rugby stardom has been a remarkable, and explosive one and last year was no exception to this as the giant winger helped Northampton win the Aviva Premiership with his first season in the league.

Last season, Northampton enjoyed the most successful season in their history. Not only did they win the Aviva Premiership, the trophy they have coveted for so long, but they also brought home the Amlin Challenge Cup and made it to the final of the LV= Cup.