Saints Q&A: Rory Hutchinson talks Scotland call-up, fine form, Saracens clash and more

Later in the day, after training at Saints, Hutchinson sat down with the media to discuss his international inclusion, his form so far during the current campaign, Friday's huge home clash with Saracens and a variety of other subjects.

Here is the full question and answer session with this publication…

Q: Rory, congratulations on your Scotland call-up. How do you feel?

A: "I found out last night and it's always nice to get some positive news.

"I had a message from (Scotland assistant coach) Pete Horne, just a quick message to say 'see you Sunday' basically.

"It's just nice to be back involved.

"It was nice to get some rugby on the summer tour and I'm just trying to continue it really.

"I never think about it (getting a call-up) too much because you just don't know what's going to happen.

"I always say the past few years I've been here that I've always got to play well for Northampton to even get my foot in the door, so that's my focus at the moment - to keep playing well for my club and it just shows you get rewarded for it.

"We've got a big game this weekend so the focus is still on Northampton until this block is done."

Q: How have you felt about your form for Saints so far this season?

A: "I've just been enjoying my rugby really.

"It was obviously nice to play over in New Zealand on the summer tour, and to come back for pre-season and hit the ground running a bit, it's been good.

"I feel like we're playing some good rugby at the moment, and that's shown from our results. Obviously they've been tight but I feel like this group is a lot more connected than maybe we were in the PREM last year. Europe was a bit of a different story.

"I feel we've got a really good squad. You see the names on the team sheets and you feel like on paper we put out pretty strong squads, so it's exciting times for us."

Q: Phil Dowson told us he gave you a special Saints shirt after your man of the match performance at Gloucester…

A: "Yeah, he presented me with a seven shirt so I'll be hanging that up in the changing room where the back rows are to remind them if they're not on their game then someone else will play!

"It was nice to be recognised for something backs are not known for.

"It was very kind of him to donate me a shirt."

Q: How did you feel about your performance in that victory at Gloucester earlier this month?

A: "A lot of people have asked me about it and I just feel like it was right time, right place.

"You have some games like that and then the game at Newcastle was a really quiet one, with it being more about the forwards, a bit more gritty and whatnot.

"I just feel like I put myself in the right positions in the Gloucester game and just managed to get something together.

"I really enjoyed the game and it was obviously a bit tighter than what we wanted, especially with it being a week after the Exeter game when we also had a big lead at half-time and didn't win, so I was just glad we could get the win."

Q: How did you find last Friday's win at Newcastle?

A: "It's always a dogfight going up to Newcastle and fair play to them because they make it really tough.

"I feel like there's a few areas for us to work on, especially in terms of discipline because I feel like we gave away too many penalties.

"But Newcastle is a really tough place to go, we've managed to get that done really early in the season and now we can look forward to what's to come."

Q: Speaking of which, how do you feel about this Friday's sold-out home game against Saracens?

A: "It's why we all want to play here, because we get to play in front of amazing fans, at an amazing ground with so much history.

"It's great to see we've got all that support and backing from the town and the local areas.

"We've got a great fanbase here and we want to put on a performance and keep that ball rolling, especially with this block coming to an end with boys being away for a certain period of time now.

"We just want to get the most out of the players we've got for now and then obviously we go into the PRC block, then when everyone comes back it will be a new challenge and focus for us."

Q: What do you make of Saracens so far this season?

A: "With Owen (Farrell) back and Maro (Itoje) coming back last week, they're a good outfit.

"They look like they're chucking the ball around a bit more so we've got to make sure we're focused on that.

"There have obviously been lots of good battles between us and Saracens - and we want to make this another one."

Q: Have we seen the best of Saints yet?

A: "No, definitely not.

"The first week was a 40-minute performance for us, the second week was a 40-minute performance then we played Tigers and didn't quite get the best out on the field.

"Going to Newcastle was another tough challenge for us and I feel like we're still waiting for this 80-minute performance and when it comes, we're going to look dangerous."