Jamie Elliott has signed a two-year first team contract with Premiership rugby club Northampton Saints.
The Bedford School educated winger was one of three current Senior Academy squad members, including Luton's Ben Nutley and Mike Haywood to have inked deals.
The 19-year-old has come through the Saints youth system to show his first team credentials this season in Aviva Premiership Rugby, the Heineken Cup and LV= Cup.
Elliott and Luton-born Nutley – both educated at the Saints partner college Moulton College – has been included in the 2011/12 England Under-20 Elite Player Squad.
He burst into the Saints first team in 2010/11 with two tries in his first two Aviva Premiership Rugby appearances against Sale Sharks and London Irish. He went one better in his Heineken Cup debut in this season’s trip to Castres by scoring two tries, adding to the brace notched in October against Saracens in the LV= Cup.
Educated at Bedford School, Elliott – who is comfortable both in the centre and on the wing – helped England Under-20 win a Grand Slam earlier in the year and was selected in the Under-20 Elite Player Squad at the start of this season.
Director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that having quality players like Elliott, Nutley and Haywood all come through the Saints Academy system into the first team squad is vital for the future prosperity of the club.
“Players like Jamie, Ben and Mike are the future lifeblood of Northampton Saints,” he said.
“It is always good to have players in the squad who the fans can see as being their own having watched their development over a number of years.
"The players themselves have grown up in the culture of the club and we have seen how vital that is to the ongoing success of other teams that have been at the top of their leagues for a number of years.
“More importantly, all three have shown that they are ready for first team rugby and have the quality to be able to compete at the highest levels of Aviva Premiership Rugby and the Heineken Cup.
“It speaks volumes for the work being done by Alan Dickens and Mark Hopley and the rest of the Academy coaches and I’m delighted that Jamie, Ben and Mike have signed full contracts with us.”
