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Published 11th Aug 2026, 18:00 BST
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Scotland’s three Summer Tests offered a real opportunity for a host of players to put their hands up for future selection as we enter the final 12 months before next year’s Rugby World Cup.
One individual who certainly did that was centre Rory Hutchinson, impressing in the matches away to Argentina and South Africa. The 30-year-old has been a regular in Gregor Townsend’s squads since his 2019 debut but had only earned nine caps in that seven year period before this most recent round of fixtures.
However, with Huw Jones missing out on the opening rounds of the inaugural Nations Championship campaign, it opened the door for the Northampton Saints man and gave him a chance to shine on the international stage. It was one that he took on the back of a 2025/26 domestic season in which he was a key part of the East Midlands club’s Gallagher Premiership winning campaign.
On the back of Hutchinson’s impressive showings in Cordoba and Pretoria last month, The Scotsman caught up with journalist Tom Vickers who covers Saints for our sister title The Northampton Chronicle. The author of ‘From Saints to Winners: The Story of Northampton Saints' Historic Double-Winning Season’, Vickers has been following the club full-time since 2010 and was delighted to see their midfield playmaker finally earn the same plaudits at Test level that he has been receiving for some time at Franklin’s Gardens.
Like many of the club’s supporters, Vickers understand why Hutchinson’s international game time has been limited with Sione Tuipulotu and Jones dominating the centre partnership so effectively for Townsend. Despite that, he was equally unsurprised to see the Saints’ star take his chance when it came and really show the Scotland fans what he’s all about.
He explained: “Northampton fans are very knowledgeable and they know that Hutchinson's been quite unlucky in the era he’s come up in because we're talking about the ‘Huwipulotu’ partnership. They're exceptional players and he's been missing out to two elite centres.
“With Hutchinson and his development, a lot was always spoken about his defence but when Lee Radford came in he seemed to take a bit of exception to the defence questions and he’s worked so hard on his game. Over the last few years he’s really become a far more complete player and he's now fully built for international rugby with all of the aspects that he needs.
“He's gotten better and better and one thing you could say about him is that he hasn’t stagnated in his career. He's always pushed the boundaries and made sure he's improving and now he's getting his reward for it.
“He has played loads of big Champions Cup matches for Saints over the last few years. They've reached a final and a semi-final, they've continually made deep runs in that competition while playing against top opposition.
“Hutchinson has excelled in those environments so realistically with Scotland he would have probably been very much a first choice regular had it not been for those two elite centres that they've had over the years. He's just had to bide his time but he's also made sure that whenever he hasn't been selected he goes back and then he adds something to his game and he just keeps getting better and becoming a more all-round player than he was before.”
Hutchinson is clearly a very different player to the powerful Tuipulotu and clinical Jones, bringing more of a link-up game to the midfield. Finn Russell’s creativity has been crucial to Scotland’s successes under Townsend and having two quality playmakers in the back-line could be they key to unlocking that long awaited next level for the Scots.
“If you think about being an opposition defence and you've got Finn Russell and Rory Hutchinson playing against you and they're in some attacking space then that's a massive dual threat,” explained Vickers. “They are very much capable of producing something out of the ordinary.
“So a defence might try and set up against Scotland but if you've got those two playmakers you've already got Tuipulotu in there as well, who obviously brings a lot of his own qualities, that’s a formidable trio for what they can offer.
“You wouldn't want to be defending against Hutchinson and Finn Russell together, they're both so creative. As a defence you might be able to keep your eyes on one and maybe stifle his space but what if you attack one and the other opens the door?”
This article was originally published by The Scotsman.
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