With pre-season in full swing, Northampton Saints’ new signing Anthony Belleau is relishing the opportunity to develop in a fresh environment.
The 29-year-old arrived at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this summer from ASM Clermont Auvergne. He featured for the two-time Top 14 winners over 80 times since joining them in 2022 and scored almost 500 points, but now in England, he’s eager to progress even further as a player.
“I know the culture of the club is to develop players, and everyone told me that if I go to Saints, I will be a better rugby player,” he said.
“This is a competitive team – they won the Premiership two years ago and they were in the Champions Cup final last season.
“We all know in France, the way the Saints play is really beautiful, really efficient and fast rugby.
“I’m sure I will be a better person too because I will live in England, and it’s a good challenge as a rugby player and a person.
“I have always been excited about spending time with players coming from everywhere around the world and I have always enjoyed discovering other things than just French, because, for me, you can be a better rugby player and person when you share different experiences and cultures.
“I always had in my mind that if I had the opportunity to go away from France, I would be keen, and last season I had the opportunity to sign for Saints, so I was like, let’s go!’’
Anthony Belleau
Whilst pulling on the Black, Green and Gold shirt may be a new experience for Belleau, he’s no stranger to playing at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, having started for Clermont against a strong Saints side when the hosts secured a 46-24 victory to progress to the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals last season.
The fly-half impressed with his performance, kicking three conversions and a penalty, but it was the atmosphere at the ground from the Saints faithful that left a lasting impression.
“It was such a great game, as it was a great atmosphere that day, and the stands were full of the Saints fans pushing behind their team.
“It was a big game, and you can feel the atmosphere here, it’s good.”
With 12 international caps for France, debuting against New Zealand in the 2017 Autumn Internationals and featuring 11 more times across two seasons, including four Six Nations appearances, Belleau adds to the rich stock of international quality Saints have at fly-half when he links up with British and Irish Lion Fin Smith upon his return from Australia.
“When Fin comes back, he can help me to understand more about the way we want to play because he has lots of experience with the team and the way English guys want to play, it’s going to be a really great opportunity to learn more about it,” explained Belleau.
“At the moment, I am the only No.10, which is good because I need to practice and spend time on the field with the boys. We are halfway through pre-season, and the first four weeks were really hard physically, but we are starting to play a bit more rugby.
“We have missed a lot of boys, but now it’s good because every week we have one or two more coming back.
“We are starting to be more competitive and creating connections between us. It’s exciting to play the first game and I’m looking forward to it.
“I’m happy to be here, it’s a great challenge, and ’I’m excited about playing games. My partner and I are really happy and enjoying our first weeks here in Northampton.”
