Hutchinson eager to seize his moment at Saints

The centre came off the bench after Matt Proctor suffered a hamstring injury during the first half of the defeat to Harlequins at Twickenham on Monday.

And Hutchinson appeared to savour the big stage, making plenty of breaks from deep as he tried to drive Saints forward.

Now he is setting his sights on some starts as he looks to get his form back to where he wants it to be.

The 25-year-old said: "I obviously haven't had as much game time as I would have liked but players have been playing well in my position.

"For me, it's about making the most of the minutes I get.

"It would be nice to be playing more minutes but I've got to work hard to get back in the team because boys are putting in some good performances at the moment.

"I thought I was starting to get back into the groove on Monday and it was nice to get some breaks and some running rugby with ball in hand.

"For me, it's just about taking the opportunities."

Hutchinson and Co were frustrated as they finished up on the losing side against a Harlequins team who racked up a 41-27 success at English rugby HQ.

It was Saints' third defeat in a row and they are now eager to return to winning ways at home to Saracens on Sunday.

"It was an awesome occasion playing at Twickenham - my first time playing there - but we were just disappointed with the result," Hutchinson said.

"You don't really expect someone to go down that early on in a game but when you're on the bench you've got to be prepared.

"The more minutes the better for me.

"I enjoyed the occasion and it was a shame about the result, and obviously my last 10 minutes.

"There are lots of lessons to take from it, some positives and what a great challenge to go up against Saracens now.

"We're looking forward to this occasion and we obviously know what they bring because they've got some world class players.

"We're really looking forward to the challenge and I think it's a great way for us to bounce back.

"We can't afford to give Saracens as many penalties as we did Harlequins otherwise it will be a tough day at the office.

"We're really looking forward to being back at home in front of our fans."

Saints currently sit fifth in the Gallagher Premiership.

So what are their aspirations for 2022?

"I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of everyone in the team - we want to be top four," Hutchinson said.

"We didn't have the best start in Europe so we'll see how that pans out but we've really got to concentrate on the Premiership and we want to be fighting for top four.

"We missed out on it last year and the year before and we don't want to do that again.

"Every season you play, the less time you've got so we all want to be pushing for top four."