"His athleticism and skill level are through the roof, but so is his conscientiousness, his professionalism, and his desire to achieve great things."

The club say that Pearson, who won his first, and so far only, England cap in a World Cup warm-up game against Wales last year, will now remain with them "beyond the current campaign".

"Last season was a whirlwind, but Saints is a place I feel I can really push on and develop," said Pearson. "Its a place Ive learnt loads already and somewhere Ive really been enjoying playing rugby.

The obvious ambition for us is to go all the way again and repeat our successes of last year, we want to put our name in the hat to win the Premiership again and Im really excited to be a part of that."

Northampton are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Leicester Tigers for the latest East Midlands derby.