Waller’s delight at ‘seamless’ Saints showing

But the prop believes any one of the Northampton players could have won the prize, such was the strong nature of the performance in the LV= Cup opener at Franklin’s Gardens.

Jim Mallinder’s men scored five tries in an impressive display that showcased the togetherness in the home side’s squad.

Waller was named star man on the day after putting in a big performance up front, but he feels Collins, who scored two fine tries, might have been more worthy of the accolade.

“Any of the lads could have got man of the match, especially Tom Collins, who was outstanding,” said Waller. “I feel like I’ve robbed him a little bit.

“We were exceptional, no one let the side down and our collectiveness showed when there were linebreaks.

“It comes a lot from us training a lot together as a team.

“There’s not really a segregation between the first team and the others in terms of what we’re doing.

“We’re always having meetings and working hard together so everyone’s clued into the ideals we’ve got and the game plan we’ve got.

“It showed in the game on Saturday, which was seamless.”