'A good start' - Litchfield reflects on Saints' pre-season success at Bedford
Tom Litchfield reflected on a 'good start' to Saints' pre-season campaign on Friday night.
Bedford-born Litchfield started at centre in the 40-28 Mobbs Memorial Match win at Goldington Road.
And he said: "It's always coming back here to play against Bedford.
"Obviously it was a young group, a first hit-out in pre-season and just blowing the cobwebs off.
"We tried a few combinations and it was a good, fun game.
"I was really happy with the boys and the way we defended.
"It's always going to be a bit of a shock when you play a game after pre-season but the boys did really well, fronted up and I was really happy with the physicality, which Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) mentioned after as well.
"All in all, it was a good start for us."
Litchfield added: "It's always nice (to win) but we'll look at the performance more than the outcome.
"There was loads of good stuff in the performance so we've got a lot to take out of it."
Litchfield is Bedford through and through and he spent time on dual-registration with the Blues during his younger years at Saints.
"I've been coming down to Bedford since I can remember," said the 23-year-old.
"I'd always be standing behind the try line and I love this place and coming back here.
"Having a club this close that play a similar brand to us, lads always love coming here on loan so it's great to have that relationship with them.
"It's really important for boys to get some exposure and Bedford play a great level of rugby so it's important for our player development and it helps them out as well."