Harrison so happy to have Picamoles at Saints

Teimana Harrison says it is '˜amazing' to have Louis Picamoles at Saints.
Louis Picamoles made his first appearance at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (picture: Dave Ikin)Louis Picamoles made his first appearance at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (picture: Dave Ikin)
Louis Picamoles made his first appearance at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (picture: Dave Ikin)

And the double player of the year believes the arrival of the French star will take some weight off his shoulders this season.

Picamoles moved to Northampton from Toulouse this summer and played his first game at Franklin’s Gardens last Saturday as he started in a friendly win against Rotherham Titans.

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Harrison was delighted to see the summer signing in action and he feels he could form a formidable back row partnership with the new man.

“It’s amazing to have Louis here,” said the 23-year-old. “In my eyes, he’s one of the best eights.

“He can do everything: he can offload, he can run, he takes a bit of pressure off me.

“Hopefully the coaches see it that I can go back to seven or six, but, as I said last year, I’ll play wherever they want me to play.

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“If they want to rest Louis, I’m happy to step in at eight. If they want to play us together, that would be great.”

Harrison went on England’s tour of Australia at the end of last season.

And he is now hoping to continue furthering his international ambitions by once again excelling for his club.

When asked which position he would prefer to play this season, he said: “I’ve not really got a preference. I’ll play anywhere and if they want to play me at centre, I’ll give it a crack.

“But I would quite like to play seven this season just because of my England ambition.

“I don’t think they really see me as an eight and to play at seven would be great.”