Tarek Haffar has committed his future to Northampton Saints, with the Club today confirming the powerful prop has penned a new deal.
The front-row forward joined the men in Black, Green and Gold in June 2023 after his previous club London Irish entered into administration.
Haffar became Saint #2086 when he came on as a replacement in the Investec Champions Cup victory away at Glasgow Warriors last December.
The 22-year-old has gone on to make six appearances, including a first start for the Club away at Exeter Chiefs, and has yet to taste defeat in Saints colours.
“I’m really pleased to be signing on for more at Saints,” he said. “The environment here at the Club is very different to anything else I have experienced before.
“Everybody here in Northampton is challenging for a spot in the team at the weekend; no-one is playing because of who they are or what they have done in the past, you have to work hard and constantly improve for the starting spot, which I love.”
Tarek Haffar
“There’s a wealth of experience at Saints. It’s been great to learn off the likes of Alex and Ethan Waller, who have both played so many games for the Club, while Manny Iyogun is just a year above me and has given me some great advice around making the step up from junior to senior rugby.
“I feel like coming through at Saints is a fantastic opportunity for me to kick on towards international honours, as the coaching is fantastic and so many young players at the Club have made that step too.
“A lot of my former coaches played for Saints and spoke very positively at the Club, so it seems right that I have ended up here and can now push on to play well for Northampton and earn higher honours as well.”
The 115kg, 6’0” prop represented England at Under-20s level when with the Exiles, and Saints’ Director of Rugby Phil Dowson is confident that Haffar has the potential to be a future star for Club and country.
He said: “Tarek is a very athletic player, but also hugely studious. He takes his time working out what he needs to do to get better.
“He lives with Chunya [Munga] and having that relationship at the Club carrying over from their days at London Irish has been great for both of them, helping them to settle here.
“Tarek is a softly-spoken guy, but when he gets out on the pitch he wants to go forward, he is a very powerful scrummager, he thinks a lot about the game, and clearly he is very ambitious too.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“The competition between our looseheads is very strong, and that not only pushes all of them to get better as players, but also allows us to manage their minutes and not run them into the ground – Tarek has become a key member of that group.
“He’s coming out of his shell more and more which is fantastic to see. So, we are really excited about watching Tarek’s journey with us and seeing him realise his massive potential.”
