Skipper Hartley ready to lead Saints to more glory

Hartley believes there is plenty more to come from a crop of players who claimed an Aviva Premiership and Amlin Challenge Cup double last season.

And he is looking forward to leading them to more glory after snubbing a move to Montpellier to stay at Franklin’s Gardens.

The decision also means the 28-year-old can continue to play for England, who have a policy of not picking players who strut their stuff outside of the Aviva Premiership.

And Hartley said: “It (signing a new deal) wasn’t a straightforward decision. I’m in my 10th season now and I did seriously consider the pros and cons of leaving.

“I thought it might be time for a new challenge - like I said, I’ve been here a long time - and that new challenge would have been met with a significant payrise.

“But I don’t feel like I’m done here at Saints in terms of success. We’re still in our infancy in terms of the squad.

“I want to play for England and I want to achieve more with the club.

“We’ve finally got to a level where we can be competing every year. We’re on an upward curve.

“It feels like it’s a good time to be at Northampton Saints and I don’t want to leave it behind when it’s starting to get going.

“I’ve been here for 10 seasons and the cup finals we’ve lost, the semi-finals we’ve lost, all those failures along the way, then the taste of success last year, I want more of that.”