Nutley, making his long awaited first start in England colours having missed much of the Under-20 Six Nations on Saints duty, put in a lung-bursting 80-minute performance in a 20-15 comeback victory over Ireland at weather beaten Stellenbosch on Friday evening.
Conditions were so bad at the Danie Craven Stadium, in fact, that all subsequent fixtures have now been moved from what had turned into a mud bath of a pitch during a gritty second win from two for Rob Hunter's side.
A day later, the senior England side were outmuscled 22-17 in Durban, despite a late try from Ben Foden. The Saint had no trouble adjusting to the new surroundings of wing play as he provided a fine finish to England's best move of the match, but it only served to close the gap after an impressive and clinical South African second half showing.
The four other Saints in the England squad also enjoyed run outs at Kings Park - Dylan Hartley starting while Lee Dickson, Paul Doran Jones and Phil Dowson featured from the bench. Stuart Lancaster's side face a South African Barbarians XV on Wednesday ahead of the second Test with the Springboks in Johannesburg on Saturday - where Foden could well be back in the number 15 shirt after Mike Brown headed home from the tour with a hand injury.
New Saints signing Ken Pisi was also in action, earning his second cap for Samoa as they picked up a 29-26 win over Island rivals Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup on Sunday.
Finally, across the pond and off the field, Samu Manoa paid a visit to his old club San Francisco Golden Gate to meet the scholarship winners of Santa Barbara Rugby Academy. Check out the picture on Twitter now!
