Sarries Academy duo pen new deals

Editor

Saracens have announced that two of their Academy players, Nick Isiekwe and Max Malins, have signed new contracts with the club.

Isiekwe and Malins have signed two-year deals that will keep both players at the club through to 2020, as Saracens secure two of the most promising young talents in their squad.

6’7 lock Isiekwe, 19, has played in all of Saracens Premiership games this season after making his debut in November 2016. He was named in Eddie Jones’ England squad for this summer’s tour of Argentina and continues to prove his worth as one of the team’s rising stars.

Fly-half Malins, 20, came off the bench in Saracens' win over Wasps and made his debut for Saracens in last season’s Anglo-Welsh Cup. He helped lead England Under-20’s to the Junior World Championships final this summer and adds more depth to Saracens' impressive crop of pivots.

On the signings, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “It’s very important for us as a club to see academy players make the transition from age-group rugby to the wider squad.  In Nick and Max, we have two players who are showing huge promise and have a number of senior appearances under their belts already.

“We now have a number of players in our squad who have come through our academy system, which is very important to health of the club as a whole.”

On earning the new deal, Isiekwe said: “It’s really promising and obviously really pleasing. This is my third season now, so to get that new contract and to see what I can do in the next few years is what I am looking forward to.”

Malins also said: “To be able to come in here and train every day – keep getting better – and know that I’m going to be doing that for the foreseeable future is something I’m very happy about.”

The news is the latest success story from Saracens Academy, a programme that has produced the likes of Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Jamie George and Jackson Wray.

On the influence the system has had, Malins said: “It’s good to not only have role models in your position, but it’s such a good environment where you can speak to anyone.

“As a group we can learn so much from everyone around us.”

Isiekwe added: “We have examples everywhere. If we can take a leaf out of their book and see how they’ve done it – how they stay true to what they do – we will be happy and it will put us in good stead as well.”