Fall Tour 2024 – In Toulouse, the Naoto Saito sun rises

Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Aaron Cruden, Nicolas Sanchez, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos. Naoto Saito can boast of having formed a hinge with great talents like few number nines. If he took advantage of the fact that the first four came to monetize their talent in exchange for a golden bridge at Tokyo Sungoliath, his association with the other three was no coincidence. On his seven outings with Stade Toulouse, he has already demonstrated his ability to set rhythm and stick to the ball to quickly eject it. These qualities fit perfectly into Toulouse's DNA, made of speed and offshore play.

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However, the presence of the 27-year-old player with the French and European champion is intriguing in the land of the rising sun. The first Japanese to play in France, the former Bayonne scrum half (1999-2001) Wataru Murata is “happy to have a successor. I've been waiting for this for 25 years! But to be honest, I was surprised to see him sign for such a big club as Stade Toulouse. I now follow the results of Toulouse and I watch the summaries of his matches!” His joy is not shared by all his compatriots, listening to the coach of the Brave Blossoms, Eddie Jones. “To be frank, the Japanese like to keep their elements at home, admits the former Australia coach. So they were not very happy to hear the news. But their state of mind changes from the moment where they see that their athletes succeed abroad It's exactly the same with baseball players: the Japanese absolutely want them to stay on their island, and they cry foul when the best go to the United States. the case with Shohei Ohtani, who is considered today as the best player in the world (in December 2023, at age 29, he signed a ten-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, editor's note), who they still adore today .”

University, Brighton and Teddy Riner

Versatile three-quarters of the Japanese, Tomoko Osada, does not shy away from his pleasure to see his friend evolve under the orders of Ugo Mola. “Naoto is a source of inspiration for mehe says of the one he knew on the benches and fields of Waseda University in Tokyo. As a member of the Japanese national team, I get to play at the international level. But, for my own development and that of my game, it is very inspiring to see him challenge himself to the best in terms of Rugby, in another country, a new city. It’s really something I would like to experience in my career too!”

The Saitama Wild Knights player was also surprised to see Naoto Saito (27 caps) join Toulouse. But this owes nothing to chance, listening to him. “He is a very disciplined person. He has always had within him this thirst to learn, to improve his game and to think about how he can be better on the pitch. And he was already one of the best players to play. the university”he explains. Rudy Paige shared the locker room with the neo-Toulouse at Sunwolves in 2020. The Nippon made his professional debut with the franchise, in Super Rugby. “When I met him, he was just a university player. But it was obvious: he was an absolutely special rugby player! I love the way he passed. The memories I have of “He was someone who constantly wanted to improve. He asked a lot of questions about the game and this scrum-half position to find out how to become better. He used a translator to ask me the questions in English.”remembers the former Springbok (five capes). The ex of Clermont and Vannes continues with a specific anecdote to show the determination that Naoto Saito had: “When we started working on kicking together, it wasn't his strong point… After just a few weeks, he had a spectacular improvement because he worked every day! It's hard work, it will allow him to succeed wherever he goes.”

Off the field too, the native of Kanagawa prefecture has given himself the means to develop his career. From the summer of 2023, he signed a contract with the Athlete Solution agency. The latter is known in Japan for managing the interests of the country's most important sportspeople, such as Kaoru Mitoma. Like the footballer from Brighton, England, this demonstrated his desire to exile himself to a more competitive championship than Japan League One.

From Brive, where the Japanese were on training, Eddie Jones confirms: “We discussed the teams with whom he was likely to sign up. When players go abroad, they have to do so to arrive at a well-structured club, with good staff… That's why We have carefully studied the matter together.” Only four months after the arrival of the scrum half in the 23 Brennus institution, the former coach of the XV de la Rose is already drawing a positive conclusion from this experience for his protégé. “He has clearly progressed in Francehe enthuses. What I like is that playing for a team like Toulouse, Naoto is forced to make lots of decisions in record time. Because in Japanese rugby, players are not used to making decisions. They stay in the patterns, and often tend to recite the game plan. It's the same in other sports: take the example of judo. Before, Japan dominated the discipline. Then France and Teddy Riner arrived. And Japan had to lose its world crown to renew itself, to make strong decisions in order to restructure itself. In recent years, the training of Japanese judokas has changed enormously, and we see that they are becoming efficient again. That's why the fact that Naoto is playing in France and Toulouse is an excellent thing for him.”

This express adaptation in a new club and a championship much more demanding than the Japanese one does not surprise Clément Poitrenaud, the back coach of the Stadistes.
“We saw a boy who was lively, alert and that caught our attentionsays the former rear. He is a Japanese who speaks English, which is not always the case. This made it much easier to adapt. We feel that he really wants to integrate into the group. He is very attentive to everything he says and does to himself. He asks questions when he doesn't understand. He quickly got his bearings and things are going very well. It brings freshness to have elements like him that we are less used to having in our championship, compared to other nationalities. He is very pleasant to train in any case, and he is quite effective as soon as he is called upon to play.”

Every day, he manages himself, cooks, drives on the right side of the road, does his shopping…

In his time, Wataru Murata was surprised when he arrived in France. He didn't expect to see his teammates speaking French on the field. “I thought the terms were in English”he plays again. More than twenty years later, the Top 14 has become international. With his good command of the language of Shakespeare, Naoto Saito can more easily guide his partners in the field. First concerned, Guillaume Cramond confirms: “He asserts himself on the pitch. He shouts! He's a good player because he manages to tackle us well even though there's this language barrier which isn't obvious. He's doing well, especially since he alternates between French and English, there isn't really one or the other language, it's more precise words to say, he knows them and he says them well.”

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If the smallest player in the Top 14 (1.65m) has found its place on the pitch, this is also the case in the Toulouse locker room. “He's not Blair Kinghorn, I'm not going to lie to you, he's still a little more reservedsmiles Clément Poitrenaud. He is very endearing, he makes a lot of effort to communicate with his partners and to integrate into the group. The players feel it, so they have a certain affection for him and it goes well off the field.” His hooker confirms: “He's a little reserved but we manage to make him mess around a little. We like to hook him up because he's very polite. He's funny.”