Auterac so eager to get involved in Saints' bid for silverware

The loosehead prop has made the move to Saints from Harlequins, even though the 2020/21 season has yet to finish.

Auterac, like so many players in England's top flight, has found himself switching clubs during what is almost the middle of the campaign due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The season was put on hold in March and because players have signed contracts at new clubs from July 1, those commitments have been honoured.

It means Auterac has started the campaign as a Quins player but will finish it with Saints if, as planned, the Premiership resumes in August.

It's a strange feeling for the 27-year-old, who has already sampled some stand-out Saints-related career moments.

Auterac explained: "I've played quite a few times against Northampton and it was always a tough place to go.

"I remember that I was 24th man when I was at Sarries and Saints won the Premiership final back in 2014. That was a memorable game.

"I wasn't in the matchday squad but I was down there and did warm up.

"I had come through the whole Academy system and it was my last match at Sarries before moving to Bath.

"I was upset for the boys who were playing but it was a good little taster to watch that.

"Sarries had been hoping to win and I just remember how upset everyone was.

"I also watched the game the week before when Saints won against Bath (in the Challenge Cup final) because I was going to Bath.

"Also, I made my first-team debut against Northampton in an LV= Cup game in 2011.

"As a first-year prop I didn't think they'd really want to put me on against the players that Saints had out there that day. They had Soane Tonga'uiha, Dylan Hartley, Brian Mujati and Paul Doran-Jones.

"Deon Carstens got a bit tired towards the end of the game and wasn't really fancying the LV= Cup much so he came off and I got to have a 15-minute runaround at the end of the game."

So how does Auterac feel about now being a Saints player and what is it like to swap life at seventh-placed Quins for Chris Boyd's fourth-placed side?

"It is a tight league and you can jump between second and ninth quite quickly," he said.

"There are a lot of teams bouncing about and you can be in the top four one week and loving life but then drop down and have panic meetings.

"But Saints have been in the top four all year and so when we heard players would go to their new clubs now I was quite looking forward to that.

"I thought it would be quite cool to play less than half the season and potentially win the title and imagine winning in Europe as well!"

Having come through the ranks at Saracens, Auterac made the move to Bath in 2014 and played a key role as they reached the Premiership final in 2015.

But things didn't work out so well at The Rec in the end, with Auterac saying in an interview a couple of years ago that 'things turned to s**t towards the end at Bath and I just couldn’t recover from perceptions the coaches had of me'.