Lawes was a key member of the England Under-20 team that came second in the 2009 Junior World Championship, scoring two tries on the way to the final. He was also the only member of that Under-20 group to be promoted to the Saxons squad last summer.

But having been included in Johnson’s RBS 6 Nations squad in January, Lawes has recently slipped down the international pecking order behind Louis Deacon, Simon Shaw and England skipper Steve Borthwick.

"I was always going to stay at the club," he said. "It's a good place to be at the moment in every way - the coaches are great, the lads are great and with how we're playing at the moment.

"It is also always good to play for your hometown club in front of your own fans and hopefully I will be for a long time to come.

"I do sometimes stop and think about how far I've come in a short time from schoolboy rugby to England.

"I've come on so much. But I'm not dazzled by it. I keep a level head and am concentrating on playing good rugby for the Saints."

Director of rugby Jim Mallinder is delighted that Lawes is remaining as a Saint.

"Courtney has developed very quickly into being a good rugby player," he said. "But he is still very young and we believe that there is more improvement still to come, both physically and in how he plays the game.

“He has spent a lot of time with Dorian West on developing as a player and he still wants to continue learning.

"Courtney has also come up the ranks of the club and he is someone who other young players in the Northampton area can aspire to follow, through the Academy into the first team squad and then England."