DORIAN WEST says he has been really pleased with how new boy Gerrit-Jan van Velze has fitted into the Saints squad.
And the forwards coach is now looking forward to seeing how the South African ace adapts to match action when the team kick-off their pre-season campaign tonight.
Van Velze is one of two summer signings – along with centre Luther Burrell - named in the line-up to take on Italian side Zebre in the Vaquerin Challenge match at Millau (kick-off 7pm BST).
The 24-year-old has big boots to fill as he is steps into the No.8 role vacated by Roger Wilson, who has moved back to Ulster.
But West believes van Velze has all the qualities to do what Wilson did and become a top player for the Saints in the forthcoming campaign and beyond.
“I’ve been really pleased with him,” said West. “He looks a good player.
“We saw quite a bit of him playing in games over the last couple of years and there was something we saw in him that he could fit into our side.
“He’s come, he’s trained well, he’s got a good attitude and he looks a good player.
“We’re always keen to bring that sort of (young) player into our setup, someone who has got the ability to play at the present time but somebody we also think we can make a bit better.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him play in some games now.”
Saints have named a 31-man squad for the match against Zebre, with an experimental side set to take to the field for the first half.
The likes of Jamie Elliott, Tom Hicks and Ross McMillan will all get some game time before big guns Phil Dowson and Dylan Hartley among others get their chance in the second half.
“It’s always good to get the lads back into a bit of rugby,” said West. “They’ve done really well in the fitness training so it’s good, it’s looking positive.
“We’ve got some new faces that have come and freshened things up a bit and that gives us a bit of stuff to do with them on how we see the game and skills within it so it’s always a good time to get your teeth stuck into a bit of rugby and prepare for the games that are coming up.”
Saints team to play Zebre at Millau:
15 Vasily ARTEMYEV
14 Jamie ELLIOTT
13 Tom MAY
12 Luther BURRELL
11 Noah CATO
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Soane TONGA’UIHA
2 Ross MCMILLAN
3 Tom MERCEY
4 Tom HICKS
5 Mark SORENSON
6 James CRAIG
7 Teimana HARRISON
8 GJ VAN VELZE
Replacements
Scott ARMSTRONG, Christian DAY, Paul DIGGIN, Darrell DYER, Paul DORAN JONES, Phil DOWSON, Ryan GLYNN, Dylan HARTLEY, Samu MANOA, Stephen MYLER, George PISI, Ken PISI, Dom WALDOUCK, Alex WALLER, James WILSON, Alex WOOLFORD