'Significant number' of Saints contracts to be announced in coming weeks

Chris Boyd is continuing to shape his squad for seasons to come (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

The boss has already tied two of his current players to new deals with Courtney Lawes and, earlier this week, Ehren Painter signing on the dotted line.

But with Boyd now having had plenty of time to assess his squad, having arrived from the Hurrcianes during the summer, more new contracts appear to be on the horizon.

"I think there will be a significant number of other deals announced before Christmas if we can get that done," Boyd said.

"To give certainty to your players around their future is always a great place for them to be mentally.

"If they want to be here and we want them to be here and we can find a way to make it happen, it's a win-win situation for the club and the player."

Boyd has had 10 competitive matches and three pre-season games to see what his current crop of players can do on the field.

But he insists what they do off it has also been taken into account.

"I've got a pretty good snapshot of where people are," Boyd said.

"Often it's not around what they can give you on the field, it's about whether they're good team men, whether they've got resilience and whether they're prepared to put the team first.

"Those are things that I think are really important in putting together a good team.

"You often see things on the field but finding out about them as people is the critical thing for me, and I've got a pretty good handle on most now."

Last week, Boyd revealed that he does not expect a huge amount of change at Saints next summer.

However, with Boyd possessing a vast knowledge of Super Rugby and now a good idea of life in England, he will look to add some new signings to his ranks for next season.

"It (recruitment) started from before I walked in," Boyd said.

"It's a global competition in respect that while we do want to make sure we've got enough English-qualified players to fall in line with what the Premiership want, which is a good thing,

outside of that we can bring players of quality from outside and that's constantly ongoing."