The 22-year-old, who was yesterday drafted into the England squad for this year's Six Nations, has scored 15 tries in 16 appearances in all competitions this season making him the leading tryscorer in both the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup.

Ashton, who has notched an incredible 67 tries in 62 appearances for the Saints since switching codes from rugby league side Wigan in 2007, had no hesitation in signing on again at Franklin's Gardens. "The Saints has been a great club to be a part of over the past couple of years," he said. "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."

Director of rugby Jim Mallinder is understandably very happy that Ashton has made the commitment. "Chris has worked very hard on his game, especially over the past 18 months," he said. "After a fantastic season in National League One, he had a quiet first year in the Guinness Premiership. But he spent a lot of time learning the game and honing the small details that didn't get found out at the lower level and he is starting to reap the benefits now."

Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath commented, "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."