Mallinder sweats on injured duo

Northampton Saints boss Jim Mallinder is still waiting to hear news on the knee injuries sustained by Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes.

Both players hobbled off during the first half of Northampton's 16-6 Aviva Premiership defeat to Saracens at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday. With Hartley and Lawes named in the England squad for the Autumn International Series, which gets underway against Fiji on November 10, there are concerns the pair could be out on the sidelines. However Mallinder has admitted he is still waiting to learn the full extent of the injuries suffered by the pair. He said: "They've done something, but we will know a lot more later. "I think Lawes and Hartley are the sort of characters that if they had just got a knock and they will be running around on Monday they wouldn't have come off. "Courtney tried to carry on, but he was unable to do so. You want them on the field and getting through games. It was disappointing they had to go off."