Taylor 'honoured' to wear Saints shirt for the first time

Taylor delivered an impressive showing after coming on at half-time at Franklin's Gardens, scoring almost immediately.

He continued to pull the strings from scrum-half, while also showing good strength in defence, earning praise from supporters and forwards coach Phil Dowson.

And Taylor was delighted to get his time at Saints up and running following a summer move from Saracens.

"I was honoured," Taylor said.

"The pitch here is incredible and to play on the grass pitch is like playing on a world-class football pitch so it was amazing.

"I got lucky to get fed the ball near the line and it was good for me to get my first try."

Saints were 22-7 down at the break, but they bounced back to lead 26-22 before Leinster scored twice late on to win it.

"We really enjoyed it," Taylor said.

"It was a bit of a wake-up call because we got a little bit shocked to start with, but everyone was just happy to be playing.

"It's been a long pre-season and it was a good first knock-out.

"Leinster brought their A game, they put some physical shots in there and it was a good one.

"You could definitely tell they had two games before because they came out and played really well.

"We've got a few things to fix but it was a really good start for us.

"We've got positives and negatives and now it's about kicking on building up to our first Prem game.

"We've got a lot to work on, but it's a great first hit-out for the team."