{"id":190906,"date":"2025-10-10T16:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190906\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:58:17","slug":"sarries-legend-alex-goode-makes-rugby-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190906\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarries legend Alex Goode makes rugby return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In all his years of playing at the top level, for England<\/a> and Saracens, Alex Goode<\/a> has always felt like a man of the people.<\/p>\n

The full-back with all the skills was no stranger to an old-school beer or two to celebrate big wins and title triumphs, and his post-Heineken Cup several-day-long bender is the stuff of legend.<\/p>\n

So when Camden Town Brewery were looking to enlist a bit of stardust to help support their new grassroots rugby initiative Give \u2018Em Hells<\/a>, Goode was the perfect man to turn to.<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

What do Owen Farrell\u2019s teammates think of his tackling? \u2013 | Alex Goode <\/p>\n

\"VideoWhat do Owen Farrell\u2019s teammates think of his tackling? \u2013 | Alex Goode <\/p>\n

Now a part-time member of the Saracens<\/a> coaching staff, Goode made 400 appearances for the club and won 21 caps for his country. He retired with no regrets and nothing left to prove.<\/p>\n

However, Goode\u2019s love of rugby runs very deep, so he happily accepted Camden\u2019s invitation to lace up his boots again and make a cameo appearance for Rugby Lions<\/a> RFC.<\/p>\n

As the new sponsors of the Midlands club, Camden gave their first home game of the season against Oundle 2s in Counties 2 Midlands East (South), the big treatment, marketing it as \u2018Rugby\u2019s biggest round\u2019.<\/p>\n

Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode of The Rugby Pod were in attendance at Webb Ellis Road, Lions and Wales<\/a> legend Scott Quinnell<\/a> gave a rousing pre-match team talk, and every fan who came to watch was given a free pint of Camden Hells.<\/p>\n

Goode, meanwhile, turned up an hour before kick-off, expecting a casual run-out in the town that gave the sport its name. Having faced the might of Toulouse, etc., and played against the best players in the world in some of the largest stadiums in the game, he could have easily been forgiven for thinking, \u2018how hard could it be?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was eight leagues down, so I thought it would be easy to bob along, and it would be alright. But that wasn\u2019t quite the case,\u201d Goode admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were playing a team who were very good, who had beaten a team 90-10 and were 104-0 up in another match when the game got stopped early because they were winning by too many points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned up at 2, and they were already taping up on the field, and I was like, \u2018what the **** have I walked into here\u2019?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were 40-odd nil down when I came on two minutes into the second half. But the lads scrapped hard, showed great heart, and just tried to do the best they could against much better opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have always thought of me as a skilful, on-the-ball-type of player. But, fundamentally, all the teams I have been a part of have had grit. And that\u2019s what I loved seeing from the Rugby Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you talk to any of my coaches, they\u2019ll tell you I hate losing, I will always try to find a way to win, whether you\u2019re up against a better team or not. We scored two tries; no one had scored that many against them all year, so that was quite nice.<\/p>\n

\"ScottFormer Wales and Lions star Scott Quinnell gives the Rugby Lions players a rousing teamtalk before their Counties 2 Midlands East (South) fixture vs Oundle 11. Photo: Perry Gibson<\/p>\n

\u201cI played full-back and spent a lot of time in the frontline, having to make some tackles,\u201d Goode added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into it thinking if I don\u2019t have to make a tackle, that would be good, since I haven\u2019t played since the last game against Bath<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, within you, there is a mix of competitiveness that you want to win, but I also don\u2019t want to look like a fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say you have got nothing to prove to Rugby Lions, but I was like, \u2018I do to myself\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you put a shirt on, the worst thing would be if the boys said, \u2018he didn\u2019t want to be there, he wasn\u2019t great\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I wasn\u2019t making breaks, I think they appreciated the fact I was trying to whack people, trying to make tackles, trying to get stuck in. They could see I was invested, and as much as you can be in 38 minutes of rugby, I was in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was important for me, and I hope the players felt that.<\/p>\n

\u201cScott Quinnell was there and he said to me afterwards, \u2018you\u2019re a Lion now, mate.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Rugby Lions suffered a sobering 63-13 defeat, but the fact they\u2019d got another team out \u2013 plus one special guest \u2013 was enough reason to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Once a First Division club, Rugby Lions have had a chequered history, especially on the financial front. Most famously, former player Michael Aland took over the club, brought in Neil Back<\/a> as head coach, and promised the world, only to let everyone down.<\/p>\n

\"RugbyRugby Lions get the maul going during their Counties 2 Midlands East (South) fixture vs Oundle II. Photo: Perry Gibson<\/p>\n

Rugby Lions sank to the bottom of the pyramid then, and did so again post-COVID, after running into more money problems.<\/p>\n

Having the support of Camden Town Brewery has lifted the spirits of everyone at Webb Ellis Road. Helped by the free booze and the presence of the fun-loving Goode, last Saturday, the Lions clubhouse felt like a good place to be.<\/p>\n

Staying true to his own grassroots rugby days at Cambridge RUFC, Goode dutifully obliged in necking a pint of Hells, as punishment for turning up a fraction late, but the revelry was a lot tamer than after the 2019 Heineken Cup win over Leinster, when he partied for days on end still dressed in full Saracens kit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to have followed me around for the test of time, that one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t quite say to them we only do that when we win the European Cup, it\u2019s a bit different. But it was a great experience and I enjoyed playing with a really good group of guys, who I found really interesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentally, it is what rugby is all about, the grassroots level. If I have played a small part in helping Rugby Lions there, then great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could Goode be persuaded to come out of retirement again? \u201cIt was very much a one-off. I am happily retired,\u201d was his honest answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In all his years of playing at the top level, for England and Saracens, Alex Goode has always…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-190906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}