TOO GOODE TO BE TRUE EXCLUSIVE
Forget rotation or burnout, this Sarries man hasn’t missed a single minute this season
ALEX GOODE is so indispensable to the best club team in Europe that he hasn’t missed a minute of league or continental rugby for Saracens this season. Not one. The full back is exempt from being rotated or replaced.
Tomorrow, he will make his 25th appearance of this 2017-18 campaign and if he goes the distance once again, the 29-year-old will reach 2,000 minutes for the season. He may be deemed surplus to the needs of his country, but his dynasty-building club simply cannot do without him.
‘This season, I haven’t missed a single minute of rugby in the Premiership or Europe yet,’ he told
Sportsmail. ‘I’ve not come off and I’ve not been binned. If I could go the whole season doing that, I don’t know whether I’d have to be impressed with myself, or worried! But strangely, I feel fresher than in most previous years.
‘I have time off when the LV Cup is on and because I’m not involved with England any more, I’ve managed to have some complete breaks over the last few months, so I’m raring to go.
‘Hopefully I can produce some of my best rugby at the back end of the season. I’m not at the coal face, in the front row or somewhere like that, having as many collisions, which helps. My job is more the leg work — running and speed, but there are collisions too and there have been a lot of years when I’ve become fatigued. I wouldn’t advocate any more rugby, that’s for sure.’
When Saracens square up to Leinster in front of a huge crowd in Dublin tomorrow, the Champions Cup quarter-final will represent the sort of grand occasion that Goode no longer experiences with England. Despite being so valued by his club coaches as a playmaker full back armed with artistic class and vision, he has been out of favour with Eddie Jones since the autumn of 2016.
A fortnight ago, there was the surreal sight of a man many consider worthy of a place in the national squad doing pitch-side punditry at Twickenham, as England lost to Ireland in the Six Nations. It was not something he had anticipated when agreeing to work for a sponsor.
‘Yeah, that was probably a bit closer than I would have really wanted to be!’ said Goode. ‘I didn’t quite realise it was going to be like that. I don’t mind doing these bits and pieces but of course my burning desire is to be out there playing.
‘It’s a dream to play for your country and when you can’t do that but you believe you could do a job — and do a good job — of course it’s disappointing.
‘I didn’t hide around a corner but I kept out of the way. The players are in the middle of a game and they don’t need to see me. There was nothing I could say or do which could change anything. I’m not the best at watching games at the ground anyway, because it’s something I want to do desperately and I can’t. The fires burn even more to play well and get back out there.’
Goode won’t let go of the faint hope that his international career has reached a comma rather than a full stop. Asked if there has been any contact from Jones, he said: ‘Not really, no. None at all. If he’s just going to tell me I’m not involved then there’s not necessarily any need I guess! I just keep focusing on myself and my coaches at Saracens seem happy with me.
‘I wouldn’t say I’ve given up on England though, far from it. I still think there’s an opportunity there — I’ve just got to keep putting my best foot forward on big weekends like this one.’
A fixture of Test scale and intensity awaits. Leinster are favourites against the title-holders, having been the No1-ranked qualifiers from the pool stage.
Their stunning resurgence has been attributed in large part to the impact made by former England head coach Stuart Lancaster, who has emphatically mended his reputation after the calamitous 2015 World Cup which led to his dismissal by the RFU.
‘I’m happy for Stuart,’ said Goode, who became a Test regular under Lancaster. ‘He’s a good man and I had a good relationship with him when he was coaching England.
‘Some of the stuff said about him was pretty harsh. He’s gone over to Leinster and done a great job. I have great respect for him but hopefully we can get one over on him this weekend.’
Goode concedes that Leinster are worthy favourites tomorrow, given their momentum, the confidence of their large, Grand Slamwinning Ireland contingent and their home advantage.
But Saracens have pedigree on their side. McCall’s men are chasing a third consecutive European title and they beat Munster in the same forbidding arena in a semi-final last season. They must cope without Billy Vunipola, but Owen Farrell is fit to confront so many familiar foes.
The visiting underdogs have an array of England and Lions firepower, but no-one is more indispensable than Goode — their every-minute man. HOOKER Jack Innard scored two first-half tries as Premiership champions Exeter won the Anglo-Welsh Cup with a convincing 28-11 victory over Bath at Kingsholm.