'A fantastic place to be' - Hunter-Hill so happy to be joining champions Saints

The 6ft 7in, 120kg second row has arrived from Saracens, where he made 81 appearances across five seasons, including from the bench as the London club defeated Sale Sharks in the 2022/23 Gallagher Premiership final.

Born in Melrose, the 27-year-old progressed through the Glasgow Warriors academy and made his competitive senior debut in 2016. The talented lock also captained Scotland Under-20s.

Hunter-Hill spent time on loan at London Scottish before switching permanently to Edinburgh in 2017. During his spell in the Scottish capital, he also tasted English rugby on loan at Newcastle Falcons.

After impressing during an initial loan season at Saracens in the 2019/20 campaign, during which he made 25 appearances in all competitions, Hunter-Hill headed south permanently and contributed to the London side winning the Championship at the first time of asking to return to the Premiership.

He remained a matchday squad regular across the next two seasons, making a further 34 appearances and picking up a Premiership winners' medal, before adding nine more outings for Saracens during the 2023/24 campaign.

And Hunter-Hill is now looking forward to a fresh start at Saints.

“When the opportunity to join Saints came, I looked at the team and it just seems like a fantastic place to be,” Hunter-Hill said.

“They are a club on the up, and have obviously just won the Premiership.

“I love the brand of rugby Saints play. It is very open and it is very quick. Even the defensive systems suit me as a player, it just makes me excited.”

During his time with Scotland Under-20s, Hunter-Hill played alongside his new Saints team-mates Robbie Smith and Rory Hutchinson, and also packed down alongside Elliot Millar Mills during their time together at Edinburgh.

He joins a competitive area of the pitch for Saints with Alex Coles, Chunya Munga, Temo Mayanavanua and Tom Lockett among the options along with fellow new signing, George Smith, who was most recently with Coventry.

“There are a lot of really talented players in my position so there is going to be good competition,” Hunter-Hill said.

“Hopefully I can get in there and get some game time, play some rugby, but in that same vain, it is a really talented group and Saints didn’t win the competition for no reason.

“There’s a good group of players throughout the squad and I am really looking forward to being a part of it.”

Saints boss Phil Dowson is happy to have added another proven winner to his squad for next season.

Dowson said: “Callum has been a key part of the success at Saracens over a long period and will have learnt a lot from those experiences.

“We look forward to having that experience within our squad, and giving Callum an opportunity to compete and improve in an area of strength for the club.

“We were impressed when we spoke to Callum about his desire to kick on and get better and we know we have an environment to allow him to do that.”