Tom Pearson: Northampton Saints looking for away form improvement

Pearson said he was now in a “really good spot” with regard to his fitness following a full pre-season and is hoping chances to prove his versatility will improve his chances of an England recall after winning one cap in 2023.

“I want to play as much as I can but maybe add a couple of other positions to my repertoire. If I can play [number] six a bit more that would be great, be a bit involved in the set-piece, that would give me and coaches more options,” he said.

“Eight is always an option. I’ve covered it in the past but at the moment the focus would be more on seven, and six as well.”

Exeter finished ninth last season and Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson said both teams will be looking to challenge the best in the league this season.

“They [Exeter] want to make sure they don’t have another season like last year and that’s exactly where we are mentally,” Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.

“When they played here early in the season this time last year they were a real handful – we played really well that day to get over the top of them – and I was then surprised to see they didn’t get as many results as I presumed they would.”

Dowson also stressed that Northampton cannot rely on their home form alone to carry them through the new campaign.

“The pitch here, beautiful as it is, isn’t magic, and the fans, as much as they want us to win, can’t help us make the tackles and carry the ball, so we’ve got to make sure our behaviours and our actions are appropriate to playing at the Gardens,” he added.