Northampton Saints can today announce that Scotland international Rory Hutchinson has extended his contract at Franklin’s Gardens.
The 23-year-old came through the Saints Academy system and has made 46 appearances to date in the Black, Green and Gold jersey – scoring 13 tries.
Hutchinson’s form during the second half of the 2018-19 campaign saw him named Saints’ Breakthrough Player for the season. That term he also collected Club and Premiership Player of the Month awards, and was nominated for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season gong across the whole league.
“I feel like I have been living out my dream over the last six months.”
Rory Hutchinson
His reward this summer was a maiden call-up into the Scotland senior side ahead of the Rugby World Cup, with Hutchinson marking his first international start by scoring twice in a warm-up Test against Georgia.
And after continuing that scintillating run at the start of Saints’ 2019-20 campaign, Hutchinson has put pen to paper on a new deal with the Club.
“I feel like I have been living out my dream over the last six months or so, playing for Northampton Saints and making my international debut for Scotland,” he said.
“Franklin’s Gardens is a fantastic place to play rugby; I trust in Chris Boyd and what he and all the coaches here are doing at the Club, so I’ve no doubt that this is the best place for me to develop even further and win more silverware in the coming years.
“Ever since I first pulled on the Black, Green and Gold jersey, I was desperate to win trophies with Saints and that ambition definitely still burns brightly.
“There are some seriously gifted players around me in Northampton, and I’m really confident together we can achieve a lot over the coming years.”
Born in Cambridge, Hutchinson joined Saints Academy from Shelford RFC before breaking into the first-team squad in earnest during the 2016/17 season, with his try against Exeter Chiefs on his first Club start winning Northampton’s Try of the Season award.
Hutchinson then helped Northampton Wanderers to back-to-back Premiership Rugby A League titles, scoring against Gloucester United in the 2017 final, but has really started to excel since Chris Boyd’s arrival at Franklin’s Gardens – the centre featured in Saints’ Premiership semi-final against Exeter earlier this year and was also part of the side that lifted the Premiership Rugby Cup in March.
“Hutch is a high-skill player who has made a significant step up in his performances over the last 12 months.”
Chris Boyd, Director of Rugby
Internationally, Hutchinson represented Scotland at both the 2014 and 2015 World Rugby Under-20s Championships and Six Nations competitions to become the joint most-capped Scotland Under-20s player ever, before becoming the 1104th player to represent Scotland when he made his debut off the bench against France in August.
“Hutch is a high-skill player who has made a significant step up in his performances over the last 12 months,” said Saints’ director of rugby Chris Boyd.
“Right from when I arrived in Northampton, I was impressed with his skillset, willingness to try new things and the effort he makes to improve his all-round game.
“He has seen that pay off with awards and a call-up to play for Scotland this summer, all of which was richly deserved, but crucially he has not taken his foot off the accelerator and has picked up where he left off so far this season in trying to fulfil his huge potential.
“I’ve no doubt Rory will be an important player for us over the coming seasons, and our supporters love watching him play, so we’re thrilled to see him sign on again.”
