Hartley and Lawes among seven to pen new Northampton deals

Dylan Hartley has rejected a ‘very generous’ deal at Montpellier to instead sign a new contract with Northampton Saints.
The England hooker had visited the French club’s facilities recently but he has decided to stay ‘loyal’ to the Premiership champions like Courtney Lawes and five of their fellow forwards.
Northampton Saints has today announced new contracts with seven of the club’s players.
Hartley is the longest-serving player at Franklin’s Gardens joining the club in 2005 amassing 198 first team appearances
England lock Lawes, who came through the academy ranks, has also put pen to paper on a new deal alongside Calum Clark, Alex and Ethan Waller, James Craig and Gareth Denman.
“It’s no secret I was offered a deal to join one of the leading French sides, Montpellier, which would have been worth significantly more. But money isn’t everything,” Hartley wrote in his column in The Sun. “I don’t want to come across all ‘holier than thou’ over this, but I do believe the world loyalty has gone out of fashion a bit – and for me that really means something.
“I have a great admiration for the one-club men, across a variety of sports, and if I can finish my career with Saints as my only professional club I’ll be a very proud man. Saints have shown incredible loyalty towards me, particularly during my well-documented disciplinary issues, and it’s great that I can take this opportunity to try to repay their faith in me.
“And I’m obviously aware that staying at Saints means I will continue to be eligible for England in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, not just next year’s competition. A move to Montpellier would not have threatened my participation in 2015 as I would not have joined them officially until after the World Cup.
“That, the very generous money they were offering and the promise of around 300 days of sunshine made the opportunity to play abroad very tempting. But I’ve no doubt that I’ve made the right decision.”
Saints Director of rugby Jim Mallinder added: “We have a group that has shown time and again that they have the ability to compete at the highest level of club rugby, and retaining players is very important to us,” he said. “The seven forwards that we have announced today are all good players already, but they still have the ability to improve and we are looking forward to seeing them develop further at Franklin’s Gardens.”