This is Leicestershire --Leicester Tigers' new signing David Mele is already settling into life in the city and is ready to fight for a starting shirt.
The 27-year-old Frenchman has joined the ranks at Welford Road after spending seven years with Top 14 side Perpignan.
Mele is a goal-kicking scrum-half, who can also play fly-half, and his style is reminiscent of Julien Dupuy, the Stade Francais No. 9 who was such a huge hit at Tigers during the 2008-09 season.
Mele said ex-Tigers hooker Perry Freshwater, a former team-mate at Perpignan, helped him make the decision to join Richard Cockerill's squad.
Freshwater spent eight years at Tigers before his move to France in 2003.
"He told me about the club and the team, about the people who live here, and he told me only good things," said Mele.
"I knew that my time at Perpignan was going to finish, so I saw an opportunity to progress, to know another way to play rugby and another culture. It is a pleasure for me to join Tigers."
Mele may not have been in England for long, but he has already noticed contrasts between the two countries.
Not only does he find the food different over here compared to his homeland – although he does insist he finds English cuisine very enjoyable – he also believes the culture of the game is very different this side of the Channel.
"It's very professional here, it's very different than France," said Mele.
"In France, there are lots of lazy boys. And they don't want to work hard every day, so I like this mentality.
"I like the English people, they want to work hard every day. I like that, I need that. I know (getting into the team) is going to be difficult, but I need that.
"In France, when you are first-choice, you just stop working and say, 'oh, I'm going to play, no problem'.
"Here, you have to work every day to prove something and to prove you can be better than the other player. So that's good for me and I hope I will be a better player here at Tigers.
"I just want to be on the pitch, play, and win everything. I hope to win trophies."
Mele will certainly have competition for the No.9 shirt, especially with British & Irish Lion Ben Youngs as first-choice.
Youngs and his fellow Lions returned from their successful tour of Australia last week.
Mele believes working with Youngs will make him a better player.
"He's a very good player," said Mele. "I think I'm going to learn a lot of things from him, even if he is younger than me. He is an exceptional player." Reported by This is 21 hours ago.