McParland commits future to Northampton Saints

Northampton Saints scrum-half Archie McParland has penned a new deal to remain at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens beyond the current campaign, the Club can today announce.

At just 19 years of age, McParland has already featured 25 times in Black, Green and Gold since making his debut in 2022. 

On that day, the half-back became the Club‘s youngest Saint of the professional era at 17 years and 222 days old – a title he still holds – and he has gone from strength to strength from there, earning international honours for both England Under-20s and England A in recent years.

While a shoulder injury sustained with England Under-20s has curtailed his campaign this term, Saints’ Director of Rugby Phil Dowson is thrilled to keep McParland in Northampton for the foreseeable future.

“We’re delighted to see Archie re-sign,” said Dowson. “His work ethic is brilliant. He’s somebody who has got a really good skillset and he’s pushing at some of our more senior lads for game-time – he’s played a lot of rugby for us this year. 

“Archie’s the kind of player who wants to play at speed, and play our game. His skills are excellent, in terms of passing, kicking and decision-making, and he’s coming on leaps and bounds in defence as well. 

“You get better at rugby by playing rugby, and we’ve seen that clearly with Archie.

“He’s learned from all his experiences over the past two seasons. He’s very easy to coach because he’s very committed to getting better, he wants to listen and spends a lot of time with coaches like Jake Sharp to work on his kicking game. 

“So, we’re excited about watching Archie improve and continue on his professional journey with Saints.”

Originally joining Saints’ Academy set-up as a fly-half, McParland converted to No.9 in his Under-15s season and signed his first professional contract with Northampton ahead of the 2023/24 season. 

McParland made nine appearances in a Northampton shirt in Saints’ Gallagher Premiership title-winning season, making his league debut against Sale Sharks in the opening round – though missed the league title celebrations at the end of the season whilst away with England Under-20s, when they lifted the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship trophy.

This term, after winning the Club’s gruelling preseason Blakiston Challenge, McParland has featured 15 times in Black, Green and Gold – making his Investec Champions Cup debut against Castres Olympique and gaining his first senior international experience with England A when they faced Australia A in November. 

McParland said: “Having been in the Academy since the age of 13, to play for the first team at Saints is a dream I’ve had from a very young age. It’s been a long-term goal for me to wear that Black, Green and Gold shirt, so to be able to extend my time here is really special. 

“I’ve enjoyed every minute playing for Saints this year. Playing and training alongside Mitch [Alex Mitchell] and TJ [Tom James] has been massively beneficial to my progress – they’re both class No.9s and they play the game quite differently, so I can take different things from their games.

“Will Parkin [former Academy coach] deserves a lot of credit for helping me get to where I am, as he moved me to scrum-half and helped me a lot with my skills when I was younger. Also my parents have been a massive support to me; they were always patient, took me to every training session or match, and wanted to give me every chance to pursue a career in rugby. Even when I was living away from home at school, my Dad never missed a game.

“I’m really looking forward to the next few years at Saints, as we have such an exciting young group. We’ve still got a lot to give this season and in the years to come, we’re still a growing team with so much potential. 

“Every time I get to run out at cinch Stadium is special, the backing from our supporters is always amazing and I’m excited to be able to continue to do that for the foreseeable future.”