The big interview: Tom Vickers talks to new Saints scrum coach Jaco Pienaar

Speaking after a Saints training session as preparations continued ahead of the new season, the South African, who arrived in Northampton this summer, exuded warmth and happiness.

The words 'enjoying it' were uttered several times during a chat that went on for several minutes as new scrum coach Pienaar constantly emphasised how much he is already loving life at Saints.

He was brought in to replace another extremely likeable character, Matt Ferguson, this summer, and Pienaar has set about getting his new charges onboard with his plans, learning all of their names as quickly as is humanly possible.

"We started with a smaller group because of having the international guys away, but as we go along, more and more guys are coming back in," Pienaar said. "I'm enjoying it.

"I like to have it where I try to lead the standards and the process, but you almost want the players to try to lead the standards and make them involved in the thought process.

"You want to make sure they buy into the system that I'm trying to implement.

"I'm just getting to know everyone and you can imagine all of the names I need to learn in a short amount of time.

"I'm enjoying it."

Pienaar already knows plenty about Saints and some of the current coaches and players, which is helping him to settle quickly in Northampton.

"I am settling in well," he said. "I've been here for almost two months now so I'm getting the hang of it.

"I moved into Abington area, close to the park and have settled in well.

"I've met my neighbours and even met some Saints fans in shops so I've been enjoying it.

"I was here in 2019 quickly for a week visit and there's a lot of places I can remember from that time so I'm settling in well.

"What happened was, when Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) was still the forwards coach at Saints under Boydy (Chris Boyd), he actually came to the Sharks for some personal development. I was coaching the forwards there so I met him in Durban in about 2018.

"Then in 2019, I did the same - I went to Munster and then came here for a week to do some personal development as well.

"Sam Vesty was here, Dows was here, Tommy Bullough, the S&C coach, was here so there's a few faces I remember from then.

"I was lucky enough to be at one of the home games in that week so it was nice to see the Saints supporters and the team playing on their home ground.

"I had a great week here with Boydy and the guys.

"I can't actually remember the game, but I'm sure they did win."

Pienaar has been impressed with Dowson, who, like him, loves to embrace different styles and ideas.

"He's a great coach," Pienaar said. "In short, I enjoy working with him a lot.

"The guys here have really supported me well and made me feel welcome over here.

"They're just great guys and great coaches so it's easy to slot in."

Pienaar is familiar with some members of the Saints playing squad, including new signings JJ van der Mescht and Cleopas Kundiona.

"I know JJ from the Sharks when he was still a youngster there," he explained.

"I knew about Cleo because he was also at the Sharks, but when I left.

"It's now just almost seeing them operate, train and play and do things and learning how they react to different things."

Pienaar also needs little education about the Gallagher PREM.

"I like rugby and I like the Premiership so I've seen the Saints play quite a lot," he explained.

"One of my things was to come in and see how they get that skill set under pressure, how they get that fitness and how they get to play fast and how they train it to be able to do it under fatigue and pressure.

"It's something I've been really excited to be part of and to see how they're doing it."

Now the clock is ticking down to the start of the new league season, with Saints kicking off at home to Exeter Chiefs on September 28.

Pienaar said: "It's a great highlight (to start with a home game) and my wife will come and watch that as well!"

Jaco Pienaar fact file

Pienaar boasts an impressive coaching resume with stints in South Africa and Japan during his 21-year career to date.

He began his coaching journey in Potchefstroom, spending over a decade developing young talent at North West University and later coaching the Leopards’ Under-19s in South Africa’s Provincial Championship.

A move to the Bulls beckoned in 2015, with Pienaar named head coach of the Under-19s team while also leading the University of Pretoria’s ‘Tuks Young Guns’ side in South Africa’s Varsity Rugby competition.

Pienaar then made the step-up into Super Rugby ahead of the 2017 season – joining the Sharks’ senior coaching set-up in Durban as forwards coach for four years – before moving to the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and spending two years at NEC Green Rockets (Abiko) and two years at Suntory Goliath (Tokyo) in Japan Rugby League One.