Belleau: We kept fighting for each other to defeat Gloucester

Lining up his kicking tee just a few metres from the notoriously partisan and vociferous support from Gloucester’s Shed Stand – Anthony Belleau faced one of the ultimate Gallagher PREM acid tests in just his second league game in a Northampton Saints shirt.

The men in Black, Green and Gold – who had led by 31 points approaching half-time on Sunday afternoon – found themselves trailing by the slenderest of margins as Gloucester launched an all-out second-half assault. 

With eight minutes remaining, Ross Byrne was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on tight to the left touchline. Up stepped Belleau to the land the sweetest of his seven successful kicks of the afternoon to re-establish a lead that Saints wouldn’t relinquish to secure a dramatic 35-37 victory. 

“I just tried to trust my process and do my routine,” said Belleau. “I played here [Kingsholm] in the Champions Cup for Clermont, so I knew all the stories about the stand. 

“In France this is normal. You have a very crazy environment in France, some places are really tough to play, tough to go, tough to win. You know it was going to happen, they try to make you miss the kick. It is part of the game.

A week previously, on his PREM debut against Exeter Chiefs, Saints turned down a shot at goal following Josh Hodge’s red card in favour of a kick to touch, but ultimately couldn’t execute the lineout as both sides finished a 33-33 thriller with three match points.

“We had exactly the same picture,” explained Belleau. “So I was like ‘don’t make the same mistake twice’, take the opportunity and I am happy because it went through the posts.

“When you know your routine and you know yourself, I knew that was a good kick. But sometimes even if you kick well, you can miss the target. I was confident and I knew the ball pretty well and I just looked up, waited for one or two seconds. I saw the line of the ball and it went through.”

Whereas against Exeter Chiefs, Saints didn’t manage to wrestle themselves back ahead on the scoreboard, in the South West on Sunday they did and their French international gave some insight into how he and his teammates sealed the deal.

He said: “At half-time we had the same picture as last week. We were winning by 30 points. We know they [Gloucester] are going to try and play a lot to score and come back. We were in trouble in our 22 and we were ill-disciplined. I think we had three yellow cards and we needed two backs in the scrum so that was not perfect. I am so happy that we didn’t make the same mistake twice and we took some lessons from last week.

“We kept fighting for each other, as a team we stayed connected, trust our process and try to be as relentless as before. That was the word for the second half.”

While it has been a rollercoaster experience, Phil Dowson’s side enter Round 3 unbeaten and in the early play-off places – as they welcome East Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

Belleau, who has raced to 39 points in three games since making his debut in the PREM Cup against Saracens, is eagerly anticipating one of the most famous derbies in English club rugby.

“I know it is the game of the year at home, the derby,” explained the 29-year-old. “I know how important this kind of game is, it is the same in France. We love these games.

“It is going to be a big day for us. Let’s try and get that win, because we missed the first opportunity at home [versus Exeter], and I am so excited for this.”