Collins aiming to keep hold of starting spot at Saints after try-scoring return

Tom Collins is eager to hold on to his starting spot at Saints after impressing on his return to action on Saturday.
Tom Collins scored on his Saints return on SaturdayTom Collins scored on his Saints return on Saturday
Tom Collins scored on his Saints return on Saturday

Collins was making his first appearance since the Premiership Rugby Cup defeat at Harlequins in mid-November as he lined up against Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.

And it proved to be a good day for the 27-year-old as he opened the scoring in a 44-8 bonus-point win for Saints.

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Now Collins is looking to kick on as he bids to show the coaches they should keep selecting him.

"It's been a tough start to the year for me with some young boys coming through so this was my chance to show what I could do and I want to stay in the team if I can," Collins said.

"I'm being told to do what I'm good at doing, to stop trying to change things and do things that are my work-ons.

"It's about sticking at what I'm good at."

For Saints, it was a superb way to end a four-game losing streak as they moved up a place to fifth in the Gallagher Premiership.

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And Collins said: "It's been a tough few weeks for us having lost the last four in all competitions so we went to Newcastle and tried to do the basics well.

"We did well and managed to get the win.

"The first 20 minutes was difficult but after that we sort of let loose and played how we wanted to play.

"When you turn up and it's raining, it's horrible, but the boys did well, we were professional and to pull away after that tight opening 20 minutes was great.

"We stayed disciplined in the midfield - we'd worked hard on it all week - and it worked for us.

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"We've been guilty of letting teams come back into the game too easily by giving too many penalties away, and I felt we were better at that on Saturday. If you look at the scoreline, that reflects it."

Collins' try started with a huge tackle from centre Fraser Dingwall in the middle of the field.

And the wing said: "Dingers was unbelievable.

"Our defence sets him up to do well and to come out and hit people.

"I thought there were a lot of boys with good performances so we're in a good place."