Saints sign South African lock JJ van der Mescht to strengthen pack

Northampton Saints have made a significant addition to their squad by signing JJ van der Mescht, a dynamic lock from South Africa.

The acquisition comes as part of the Saints’ strategy to reinforce both the physicality and depth of their forward pack ahead of the upcoming Premiership Rugby campaign.

Standing over 6’7″ and known for his dominant line-out ability, van der Mescht is exactly the kind of height and athleticism Northampton sought.

Reflecting on the signing, Director of Rugby Phil Dowson said:

“Our new scrum coach, Jaco Pienaar, had worked with JJ at the Sharks, and said to us that he is an unbelievably powerful athlete who can play the game,” said Saints’ Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson.

“JJ’s potential is through the roof. As well as his obvious physical attributes, he can really play ball – Jaco joked that JJ is a fly-half trapped in a second row’s body.

"He’s also capable of making big plays which can turn matches, like charging down a kick and sprinting in for a 50-metre try when we played them in January, for example.

“He’s very good at knocking mauls apart, he’s very good at carrying hard, and he’s got a good skillset already, but I have no doubt that our coaching group can get a lot more out of him as well.”

“We have a fine track record of developing top-quality locks – not just in the current crop of second row forwards already in our squad, but if you look at the likes of David Ribbans, Alex Moon, and Temo Mayanavanua as well, who came on leaps and bounds during their time here at Saints.

“So, it was a good match. JJ has aspirations to improve and get the most out of his undoubted potential, and the big selling point for him was that at Saints we have the ability to coach him really hard to achieve that.”

The new recruit is set to join the squad for pre-season, where he will work closely with forwards coach Rory Duncan to integrate into the team's systems and set-piece strategies.