The big interview: Tom Vickers talks to Saints scrum-half Jonny Weimann

Saints boss Phil Dowson has previously spoken about Vesty's affection for the England Under-20s No.9, jokingly saying 'Sam Vesty has got a bit of a crush on Jonny Weimann'.

And it's clear the backing the coaches give their players pays off, with Weimann and his team-mates continuing to go from strength to strength.

"It's great with all the coaches here," Weimann said. "They put a lot of faith in the young guys and they think if you're good enough to play, you will play - it doesn't matter how old you are. You saw that with Edo (Todaro) last season because he came straight in and performed straight away.

"The coaches are really helpful, they want you to get better every day and they want to get better every day so it's definitely a good environment to be in if you're a young guy wanting to get better.

"The blend between the coaches and the players is really important in the way we go about our everyday life, and that definitely helps out at the weekend.

"Then the conversations we have during the week are about how we can improve, what the players want from the coaches and vice versa.

"It's a very good relationship."

On Vesty, Weimann said: "He's got some weird remedies, he's very energetic, which is what you need from a coach, but then the detail he puts in and the way he sees the game is second to none, I'd say.

"He's always shouting, buzzing around the place and he calls me 'wee man', which is my nickname around here.

"He's very involved in the training sessions."

While the coaches are keen to let Weimann express himself, he says the pressure he feels actually comes from himself.

And that is something he is trying to overcome as he makes his way in the game.

"Probably most of the pressure comes from me putting it on myself rather than the coaches putting it on me," Weimann said.

"I probably just need to put that in the back of my mind and go out there and do what I do in training, when there's not much pressure on, and not think about it too much because that's when you start to overthink and things might not go how you want them to."

If Weimann needs a template, he has two perfect ones in the shape of Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland.

Mitchell is an England and British & Irish Lions star, while McParland enjoyed an incredible campaign last season, releasing the shackles to shine for Saints.

McParland spoke about how he changed his mindset to stop criticising himself so harshly after matches.

And that is something Weimann feels he can learn from.

"It's just the freedom Mitch and Archie play with," Weimann said.

"Mitch is obviously very free-flowing and then Archie last season, you could see what it did to him when he had a bit of confidence. He managed to take it in his stride and push on really well.

"Archie was unlucky in the (Gallagher PREM) final (when he got injured early on) because he probably would have got a shot with England so it's quite nice seeing how he can progress because he's only a year older than me and I can take a lot of inspiration from that.

"Both he and Mitch play a good brand of rugby, very quick and I'm trying to implement that in my game as well.

"Every time I go on the pitch I try to put my best foot forward and do what I've been doing in training.

"It's about trying not to overthink it and to just go out there and play my game."

Weimann may still only be 20 years old but he now has 18 Saints appearances under his belt as well as several outings for England Under-20s.

And he feels extremely comfortable as part of the black, green and gold squad, which has welcomed some new signings and fresh Academy faces this summer, with the team bonding during last week's trip to Sri Lanka.

"After the game there (against Asia Pacific Lions last Friday) all the new people sang a song on the bus, which was good to see, and every bus journey we had we had people up at the front giving tourist advice and news so it was a good way to get everyone involved and for everyone to get to know each other better," Weimann said.

So how was the singing?

"Everyone was pretty terrible to be honest!" Weimann said.

"Lefty (Zigiriadis) had a pretty strong South African accent when he sang - that didn't go away, which I enjoyed.

"Everyone gave it their all.

"I don't actually think I've ever had to do one (an initiation song) because we didn't have a pre-season trip back then.

"I'm into my third year here now so luckily I don't have to do any of that!

"It feels like it's gone very quick here. I remember my first day, being all nervous, but now it's like a second home.

"You can see all the new boys integrating just as we did."

Saints were able to defeat Asia Pacific Lions and they will now look to click into gear in competitive action when they travel to StoneX Stadium to face Saracens in a PREM Rugby Cup clash on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

It will be the first fixture of the new campaign for Dowson's men, and former Saracens Academy player Weimann can't wait to get stuck in.

He said: "I'm just excited to get out there again with a new group of players, new combinations.

"Rugby is a game we all love and that's the reason why we play it.

"Hopefully we can put some good performances together and dust the cobwebs off.

"I was pretty happy with last season and I got some good game time towards the end of it.

"This season I'm just aiming for more consistent game time, whether that's pushing for the Saints 23 or going to Bedford on loan.

"I want to try to put my foot forward, push for game time and push the people in front of me."