English Heineken Cup sides Gloucester and Northampton Saints have been given another welcome boost ahead of their crucial European fixtures this weekend.
Both sides have secured the services of key personnel as they prepare to put their Heineken Cup ambitions on the line in Round 5.
Having yesterday announced that inform full back Ben Foden had resigned with the club, Northampton today retained the signature of another of their prize assets.
Wing Chris Ashton joined Foden in England's Six Nations squad this week and has now committed his future to the Franklin's Gardens outfit.
The former rugby league star is currently the Guinness Premiership's top tryscorer and has also bagged five tries in four Heineken Cup games so far this season.
His decision to remain with the former European Champions comes two days before the Saints take on Perpignan in a must-win game.
Saints know that a fourth victory in five pool matches will give them a realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages of the continent's finest competition, while defeat would almost certainly mean their Heineken Cup ambitions would have to be shelved for at least another year.
"The Saints has been a great club to be a part of over the past couple of years," said Ashton, who switched codes from Wigan Warriors in 2007 and has so far notched 67 tries in 62 appearances.
"I've settled here and there is a great bunch of lads. It was a hard year last year as I came to terms with the Premiership, but the coaches stuck with me and are helping me get better at rugby union. I'm still learning though and I believe I can improve a lot.
"It's exciting to be at a club that is going places. We're ambitious to be one of the top clubs in England and in Europe and can only get better over the next few years."
Fellow quarter-final hopefuls Gloucester are also celebrating hanging on to two of their most-consistent performers after Alasdair Strokosch and Scott Lawson signed new deals with the club.
The Scotland duo have become firm favourites with the Kingsholm faithful after they established themselves as regular starters following their respective moves from Edinburgh and Sale in 2007 and 2008.
Flanker Strokosch has been one of Gloucester's stand-out performers since crossing the border from Edinburgh two-and-a-half years ago, while hooker Lawson is now a permanent fixture in the Gloucester front row in what is his second season in the West Country.
"This is really good news for Gloucester Rugby," said head coach Bryan Redpath, a day after the club also announced that prop Nick Wood would remain at Kingsholm.
"Both Scotty and Strokes have been excellent so far for Gloucester this season and are exactly the type of characters we want in the squad going forward.
"The pair of them signing shows their commitment to the club and continues our work in retaining our key players for next season and beyond."
The Cherry and Whites currently sit second in Pool 2, some 10 points behind Biarritz but a bonus-point victory by more than seven points over the French side at Kingsholm on Saturday would keep their slim chances of quarter-final qualification alive for at least another week.
