Saints star Hartley could miss start of season
Saints are unsure whether captain Dylan Hartley will be fit for the start of the new season.
Hartley was forced to pull out of the England tour of Australia and New Zealand after sustaining cartilage damage to his left knee in the Guinness Premiership semi-final defeat to Saracens in May.
The injury needed an operation and while the rest of the squad - minus the eight players that went on England tours last month - started their pre-season training in earnest this week, Hartley is still in rehabilitation.
Saints begin their Premiership campaign with a massive east midlands derby against champions Leicester at Franklin's Gardens on September 3, 4 or 5.
It is the start of a tough opening month for Saints as they also take on Bath and Saracens, who both finished in the top four last term, plus they have a trip to Harlequins, which has been the setting for two bad defeats in the last two seasons.
It will be a blow to lose the England hooker for the clash of last season's top two and director of rugby Jim Mallinder will be hoping Hartley can win his fitness battle.
But when asked if Hartley would be ready for the start of the season Saints spokesman Chris Wearmouth said: "It is too early to tell."
Better news on the injury front is that Euan Murray joined in training this week after he missed Scotland's 2-0 Test series win over Argentina because of problems with both ankles.
The tighthead suffered a bad injury to an ankle on last summer's British Lions tour, with ligament damage and a broken bone in his shin forcing him to miss the first 11 weeks of last season.
But after resting his problematic ankles Murray is now on target to get a full pre-season under his belt.
Meanwhile, Saints Academy centre Jamie Elliott has been included in the 25-man England Under-18 squad for a four-team tournament in South Africa next month.
England's Under-18s, who have notched up 18 successive wins since 2007, will face South Africa, France and a Namibian Invitation XV in the space of eight days, starting on July 16 in East London.
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