XV of France: “Discreet”, “hyper endearing”, unanimity in the stadium locker room… Naoto Saito, holder with Japan, in the challenge of Master Dupont

They don't really have the same profile or the same experience at international level but the match within the match will take place. As expected, Naoto Saito will challenge Antoine Dupont on the pitch at Stade de France, the two Stade Toulousain players having been started – by Eddie Jones on the Japanese side and Fabien Galthié on the French side – with the No.9 on their backs. A great opportunity to judge the talent of the man who arrived at Ernest-Wallon this summer from Tokyo Sungoliath with the only real references being his 21 capes in the Brave Blossoms jersey.

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A pocket scrum half (1.65 m; 75 kg), Saito (27 years old) has, however, gone in the space of a few weeks from the status of a curiosity to that of a promising player. While the attraction Dupont (28 years old next week; 52 sel.) was recovering from his Olympic adventure, he took advantage of the opportunity to quietly integrate into the “rouge et noir” collective, today totaling as many starts in the Top 14 than the “master” (2) as well as greater playing time (227 minutes compared to 194) and a number of match sheets (7 compared to 3).

“He quickly got his bearings”

A tiptoe arrival made easier by his mastery of English, which is not always the case for players from the Land of the Rising Sun. Baptiste Germain, eager to relaunch himself in Bayonne and “challenged while watching the Japanese team's matches” by this “boy who was lively, alert” as Clément Poitrenaud recognizes, the “red and black” staff therefore took the gamble to complete its squad at the scrum position behind the duo formed by Antoine Dupont and Paul Graou. And the first months spent by Saito in the Pink City have so far proved him right.

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“We felt that he really wanted to integrate into the group, so he was very attentive to everything that was done and said. He made a lot of effort to communicate with his partners and did not hesitate to ask questions. questions when he doesn't understand. He quickly got his bearings and things are going very well, says the coach of the Toulouse three-quarters. It brings freshness to have players that we are less used to. 'have in our championship. very pleasant to train and who is quite effective each time he is called upon to play.”

“It’s not Blair Kinghorn, I’m not going to lie to you!”

A player “accustomed to international games” and therefore knows “this very high level” which is unanimous in the stadium locker room, where we emphasize his “respect” and his “discretion”, in the purest Japanese tradition. “He’s not Blair Kinghorn, I’m not going to lie to you,” laughs Poitrenaud. “He’s still more reserved but he’s a very endearing boy.” “He's very nice, very smiley, reserved but we manage to make him mess around a little, confirms hooker Guillaume Cramont. We like to hook him up a bit because he's very polite but he's funny.”

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Serious, Saito is too once the crampons are put on. And in a position that requires authority, he does not hesitate to speak up to command his pack. “He asserts himself on the pitch, he shouts. Despite the language barrier, he does well,” confirms the hooker. In Saint-Denis where he will not have this problem, the opportunity seems perfect for the Japanese student to benchmark himself against the French master.