Picamoles is a machine, says Saints team-mate Harrison

Picamoles was once again in unstoppable form on Saturday as he drove Saints to a 32-26 victory against Bristol at Franklin’s Gardens.

The France No.8 scored the opening try and also provided a superb assist for skipper Tom Wood during the second period.

Picamoles was part of a huge back row effort with fellow starters Wood and Harrison, along with replacement Jamie Gibson, playing sizeable roles in a crucial Aviva Premiership win.

And Harrison said: “You see how damaging Louis is off the base of the scrum, setting up that try for Woody.

“The man’s a machine - and the more we react to him and learn how he plays, the better we become.

“He is an amazing player.

“He’s a man who can create something from nothing so it’s all about reacting and using him the best we can.”

Saints had moved up to fifth thanks to their third successive Premiership win, but Leicester’s losing bonus point at Wasps on Sunday pushed Jim Mallinder’s men back down to sixth.

Nevertheless, Harrison was delighted to have earned a maximum points success against Bristol on Saturday, because the west country outfit put up a real fight.

“To say it was a hard match is an understatement,” Harrison said.

“They came at us and got some good tries, but I’m very proud of the boys because we dug in and ground out the result.

“We came out of the European matches not in great form so we set ourselves a target of winning these three Premiership games.

“We took it game by game and fortunately we pulled together as a pack and come away with some good results.

“They haven’t been the prettiest of wins, but we’ll take it.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction for us.”