Northampton Saints today announced that Stephen Myler has signed a new contract with the club.
Myler, 26, has spent his entire rugby union career at Franklin’s Gardens, where he arrived as part of the Saints Senior Academy in 2006.
Four-and-a-half years later the fly half has passed the 100-appearance mark, earned England Saxons honours and won winners’ medals in the Amlin Challenge Cup and LV= Cup.
Indeed Myler played a crucial role in both successes. After taking the Saints to the 2009 Challenge Cup final with a late drop-goal he scored all the points in the 15-3 win over Bourgoin. Ten months later his 100 percent record in the LV= Cup final was at the heart of the Saints’ 30-24 victory against Gloucester.
With 13 tries, 153 conversions, 177 penalties and six drop-goals to his name Myler has put himself in touching distance of becoming only the sixth player to pass 1,000 points in his Saints career, but director of rugby Jim Mallinder said that he was delighted that the new contract had been signed for many reasons.
“Stephen is an excellent player and individual,” he said. “As a fly half his game management has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years, and it is still improving. He is always looking to improve and works very hard with all of the coaches to hone every aspect of his game.
“He is certainly one of the senior players in the squad and does not shy away from responsibility. And at 26 years of age we believe that there is more to come from Stephen and we’re delighted that he is staying at the Saints for the foreseeable future.”
Myler himself had no hesitation in signing on again with the Saints.
“Obviously there are plenty of things to consider, but it ultimately comes down to a rugby decision,” he said. “Saints is a great place to be at the moment and I’m delighted to be staying here.
“Since I came to the club a lot of things have changed. Jim and Dorian have come in, a lot of the players have changed and it has been positive, which is all showed in where we are and where we are aiming.
“I most definitely feel at home at Northampton. It wasn’t just a change of club but a change of code and that was made all the easier by everyone at the club and in the town. The fact that we sell out the stadium every week is pretty incredible and why I and a lot of the players love playing at the Gardens. I haven’t played at a place like it and I’m happy to be staying at the club.
“There’s always room for improvement though. We’ve come a long way in a few years and there’s a lot of potential for the rest of this year and to push on for the honours which we believe we can win in the future. There’s a lot of hard work to be done but I think we’re on the right road.”