Moon signs first senior contract at Saints

The 22-year-old becomes the 10th player to put pen to paper on a new contract so far this season, following in the footsteps of the likes of Courtney Lawes, Fraser Dingwall and Lewis Ludlam.

Moon has been part of the Saints Academy since 2015 and has made 11 first-team appearances so far, most recently featuring in the victory over Leicester Tigers as Saints secured their place in the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-finals.

And Moon is now hoping to add many more club caps to his tally.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be signing my first senior contract,” Moon said.

“Northampton is definitely the best place for me to improve as a player; Chris Boyd and the coaches have shown great faith in younger members of the squad and I am looking forward to the challenge of earning more chances in the first team.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn and competing with the likes of Courtney Lawes, David Ribbans and Api Ratuniyarawa is helping me improve every day.”

Moon helped the Wanderers to lift the Premiership Rugby A League trophy in 2017 before replicating that success the following year as Northampton's second string downed Exeter Braves at Franklin’s Gardens to claim back-to-back titles.

The 2018/19 season has been something of a breakthrough campaign for the lock, with Moon featuring in the European Challenge Cup, Premiership Rugby Cup and making his Gallagher Premiership debut against Sale Sharks in November.

And Saints boss Chris Boyd said: “Alex has plenty of potential and is providing great competition in the second row; I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to progress in the coming seasons.

“We’ve got a very promising group of young players coming through the squad at the moment and we’re excited to add Alex to that bunch as we continue build our vision.”