Scrum coach Pienaar explains guest player process at Saints

Hooker Ben Alexander, of Old Albanians, and loosehead prop Joe Cowell, of Cardiff, were the latest men to get a chance to wear the black, green and gold last Friday night.

And both men impressed, coming off the bench to help Saints secure a 40-24 cup win at Harlequins, having come back from 19-0 down.

When asked about how Saints find these guest players and the work they do to get them to settle in ahead of games, Pienaar said: "It (getting them to Saints) is all Paul Shields in recruitment.

"We've had several props on international duty so there was nobody left to fulfil the fixture but Paul got them.

"To have seven or eight guys around them who know the system, who know what we're about, it just makes it easier for them to slot in and do their job.

"When I knew they were coming, I had a bit of a discussion with them over the weekend before they came in.

"I sent them our processes in the scrum, sent them clips of our games and what that looks like.

"So we had some build-up conversations then we built the scrums up through the week in terms of three v three and just trying to help them fit in as well as possible.

"Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) always talks about how fast we can connect, how fast we can make sure they feel welcome and a lot of the coaching is between the players so some of the players will help them, some of the coaches will help them."

Also able to make a big impact off the bench last Friday was highly-rated Saints Under-18s forward Jack Lewis.

"Something you need to understand is he came through the Academy, the Saints have been aware of him for the last however many years and we see him training week in and week out," Pienaar said.

"If it's at Under-18s, if he's coming in for senior training, he wasn't a surprise for us because we know his capabilities and what he can do.

"He was lucky enough to be able to produce that on Friday night.

"It's amazing.

"We see it week in and week out in training, then when they get that opportunity and grab it with both hands like he did, being physical and doing what he can do, it's so good to see."

Pienaar and his fellow Saints coaches love giving players a chance to perform in the PREM Rugby Cup.

"For me it's so exciting," Pienaar said.

"You have loads of guys who are always training, always producing the performance in training but don't necessarily get the chance to play so this is the opportunity for them to play.

"Dows always talks about that in the meetings, about their pathways.

"Everyone's route will look different. Maybe they play some Bedford rugby into PREM Cup into PREM rugby and then get an opportunity.

"Other guys will be England Under-20s, PREM Cup into the PREM and then kick on.

"It's great to see and to know that the development sits there to help these guys to get to that level."

Pienaar added: "The fact everyone is so tight, we have an open-plan office with the Academy coaches in there with the senior coaches and all the analysts and everyone in there, it's so connected.

"If they (the Academy group) have some good training, if they have a good player, we wa t ch the clips, I'll watch the Under-18 scrums and give the feedback to the players and coaches.

"(Academy coach) Reece (Marshall) will also talk to me about what he saw on our scrums so the connection is really, really good."

Saints now head to Newcastle Red Bulls looking to enhance their chances of making the PREM Rugby Cup semi-finals on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

The black, green and gold, who have recently defeated Leicester Tigers and Harlequins, are now second in Pool B with two matches remaining, at Newcastle and at home to Saracens next weekend.

"It's a first chance to win a trophy but the most important game is just the next one," Pienaar said.

"It's about going to Newcastle and producing our DNA on the field and doing what we can do.

"What makes the PREM Cup challenging is never knowing what team other clubs will select so we focus a bit more on ourselves.

"We've got guys coming back from injury, some youngsters and the challenge for this group is about how consistently we can deliver and not just have a one-off or two-off against Tigers and Quins but how we can consistently get on to the pitch and show our DNA."