Pearson ready to lift Saints to even greater heights after superb first season

After all, he’s a man who excels in big matches, something he showed when he came up against Saints for London Irish in March last year.

On that day at the Brentford Community Stadium, Irish were too good for the black, green and gold as they seemingly took a big step towards the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.

Pearson was at the heart of all that was good in the 37-22 victory, but Irish eventually fell just short as Saints snatched fourth place before losing at Saracens in the semi-finals.

When Irish went into administration, Pearson was left out of work, opening the door to a move to Northampton last summer.

And he has lived up to the hype, producing several eye-catching displays that earned him the full faith of the coaches.

Even after he got injured against Saracens in March, he had enough 'money in the bank' to return to the starting line-up for the matches that really mattered.

He returned from the bench in a final-day battle with Bath before getting the nod in the first 15 for the play-off semi-final win against Saracens and the final success against Bath.

Pearson was simply too good to leave on the sidelines.

And the coaches were rewarded as he helped to propel Saints to a first Premiership title in 10 years at the end of his first season at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

"I came off the bench in the last game of the Prem and was able to put my name in the hat for the semi-final," Pearson said.

"Then I was fortunately able to start the final as well so I came back at just the right time so it was great for me personally and I would have been really disappointed if it hadn't happened.

"It's nice to have that backing from the coaches to start those big games and I had enough money in the bank for them to pick me.

"It's great they had that confidence in me and I hope that I repaid them with my performances.

"It was nice to be involved because I'd never been involved in a Premiership final or semi-final so it was amazing."

Reflecting on his first season at Saints as a whole, Pearson said: "It blew all my expectations, on and off the pitch.

"It was a great first year and it's now our job to back that up and go again because that's the difference between good teams and great teams.

"It's the focus for this year.

"We're top of the tree now so we're the team to beat, and we're finding that really exciting.

"It's something new for the vast majority of the group but it's really good.

"We've had a really strong gym focus in the past month, getting six or seven sessions in over four or five days. We're pushing it on that front."

Dynamic flanker Pearson made 21 appearances for Saints last season, scoring seven tries.

And he is desperate to get even more games under his belt in the campaign ahead.

"Towards the end of last season I missed some big games: Leinster away, Munster here, which was a great spectacle," Pearson said.

"It was disappointing to miss those games at a key point in the season but for me now it's about getting back up to speed and making sure I can stay fit and robust for the season."

Pearson was excellent at London Irish, but he feels he has been able to reach even greater heights at Saints.

"I definitely have improved," said the 24-year-old.

"The game understanding here has been great.

"Guys like (Sam) Vesty and Radders (Lee Radford), on both sides of the ball, have been really good in helping my development with things like my carry, being able to create one-on-ones, beat defenders, that's something I've learned a lot more about since being at Saints.

"I've improved working with those guys and it's been great."

Pearson is certainly on the England radar and has featured for the Red Rose as well as the England A side.

And he is eager to earn more frequent international minutes, like many of his Saints team-mates have done.

"It's great to see from how many were Saints players were involved in the World Cup last year to how many were involved in the summer tour this year," Pearson said.

"That number is only going to get bigger with the amount of guys in the squad who have those ambitions and the work ethic and talent to go with that.

"It's an exciting time to be at Saints, especially if you've got ambitions to play international rugby.

"Fingers crossed I can be involved in that in the future."

If Saints players want to continue to dominate the international scene they know they must impress domestically, starting with a strong title defence.

And Pearson said: "We don't want to rest on our laurels of last year and big ourselves up too much.

"We are a fresh team because there has been a lot of people who have left and a lot of turnover in the squad so it's a new group, a fresh start and an exciting one.

"We've lost a bit of experience but it's a great time for guys to step up.

"Someone like George Hendy is a great example of that because he's a guy in his early 20s who had a massive impact on the squad last year so it's time for guys like him to step up into those roles and take the team forward."

Saints have added new players such as Tom West and Josh Kemeny this summer.

And Pearson said: "They're all really good guys.

"We've got a mix because we've got quite a few Under-19 guys here who have all fitted in really well. It was difficult to tell them apart to start with, with all their skinheads, but it's getting a bit easier now.

"We've got guys from Sarries, Tom West and Callum Hunter-Hill, and also Josh Kem has added to the pack.

"They are all guys who enjoy playing a bit of running rugby and like to attack so it's been great to get in amongst it with those boys."

First up for new-look Saints when the Premiership kicks off next month will be a trip to face a Bath side they beat in last season's final.

"I don't know if they (the Premiership fixture organisers) have done that on purpose!" Pearson said.

"It's big to replay the final in the first game of the year, away as well.

"We all know that it's a tough place to go and Saints' record there in the past has been pretty poor historically so what a great test!

"It's definitely added motivation to every tough gym session or field session we're having in this pre-season.

"It's a massive motivator for us to start the season off well because we all know how important it is to put a good performance in.

"Bath will obviously be up for it, with revenge in their minds, so we want to go there and put in a good performance to start our season off."