Saints lock Moon wants more after savouring first league start of 2022

And the lock is now desperate to ensure there are plenty more in the months ahead.

Moon provided a powerful presence in the 38-22 victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, helping to push Irish back with his ball-carrying.

He will now hope to get another chance to deliver when Leicester Tigers come to town on Saturday afternoon.

And Moon said: “I absolutely loved it, just getting out there and throwing myself about and hitting things into breakdowns, hitting tackles, mauls, the whole physical side of the game.

“I loved it from minute one to minute 80. The disjointed nature of the game probably helped me a little bit because it gave me a couple of breathers during the first half!

“It gave me a chance to find my lungs again and then go at it again before there was another break, so I was actually quite fortunate in the first half with those breaks.

“But I felt pretty good throughout the whole game because it felt like I didn’t drop off at any point – I was able to stay pretty consistent with it all, so I was happy with the 80 minutes for myself.”

A hand injury deprived Moon of game time last season, and so did the form of his fellow Saints locks.

The likes of Api Ratuniyarawa, who is now at London Irish, David Ribbans and Alex Coles have all impressed in recent years.

And Moon said: “A lot of it comes off the back of the guys ahead of me have been playing brilliantly.

“Colesy has been nominated for breakthrough player three times – I don’t know how you can break through in three consecutive seasons, but he played awesome last year.

“Dave (Ribbans) continues to be, year in, year out, one of the top five second rowers in the league and Api almost defied time last year by somehow getting better aged 35 than he has been at any point of his career.

“When the guys ahead of you are playing really well, it becomes more understandable and I’m just trying to perform and put my best game out on the park.

“I feel like I played pretty well at certain points last year, but those guys have played so well I’ve had to be patient for the last couple of years.”

At 26, Moon continues to try to improve his game to show he should be starting regularly for Saints.

“Previously I’ve been able to get up and make a dominant shot, but from then it’s been about my ability to get back to my feet and get in a good position to do it again and again and again,” he explained.

“Some of it is conditioning and some of it is about technique, such as landing on top of guys, meaning I can then get up which makes it easier for me to get back in position.

“That’s been my big one in defence and then I want to develop multiple threats to the line in attack.

“I’ll admit I’ve been pretty one-dimensional in attack a lot of the time, but I’m pretty happy just to tuck it under the jumper and just run head-first.

“Being able to have multiple options at the line, keeping the ball in two hands and being a passing threat as well is something that I’ve tried to work on a lot.”