Northampton sign 145kg JJ van der Mescht in swap deal with Stade Francais

Northampton Saints have signed former South Africa U20 lock JJ van der Mescht from Stade Francais, as reported by RugbyPass.

The 26-year-old, who stands at 6’7” and weighs 145kg, has spent the last four years in the French capital, making 75 appearances.

Samoa No.8 Iakopo Mapu, meanwhile, will make the move in the opposite direction, joining the Parisians after making the move to Franklin’s Gardens in November as injury cover for Sam Graham.

The South African will help fill the void in the second-row following the departure of Fiji international Temo Mayanavanua.

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“I love the way that Northampton Saints play rugby, full of style and excitement,” van der Mescht said.

“It was clear after playing against Saints last season that this is a talented team who are tightly connected and genuinely enjoy playing together.

“The club also has a fantastic reputation for developing players. That came through strongly in my conversations with the coaches – they’re passionate about helping players grow.

“I’m hungry to keep improving and take my game to the next level. I have ambitions to play for the Springboks one day, but I know that starts with improving and performing well for Saints – and that’s a challenge I’m really excited about.

“I’m also really looking forward to coming over and playing in the Premiership. A lot of my friends play in the league, so I’ve been watching it closely, and it’s always been a goal of mine to come over and play in England. I’m proud to be making that move and excited to see what I can bring to the competition.

“I’ll be coming over to Northampton for the first time in a few weeks, and my wife and I are very excited for that.

“One thing that really struck me when I played against Saints in Paris was the number of supporters who had made the trip over the France – I loved chatting with them after the game. They were great people, and I can’t wait to be part of that community.”

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson added: “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.

“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.”