Just keep calling us boring. It makes us stronger @FoyChris
THERE was no prepared speech, because Alex Goode refused to believe he was going to be crowned Aviva Premiership Player of the Year, until his name was read out on stage.
He’d been told, but at first the Saracens full back treated the news as a wind-up. Scepticism took over, before he was called to receive the trophy on Wednesday night. In the circumstances, his words on stage were as polished as the play which had earned him the prestigious accolade.
Recognition has never come easily to the 28-year-old. ‘I thought it was a joke,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying I don’t deserve it, but you just don’t expect it.
‘I perhaps do a lot of unseen work that is appreciated at the club but sometimes doesn’t get recognised elsewhere. So I was surprised in a way, but I’ve been happy with my form over the last 18 months and even more so this year.’
Goode accepted the suggestion that he hasn’t always got the credit he deserves for the impact he has, but that is not just a personal issue. It is one that stalks his club, despite their status as reigning Premiership champions who are on course for the double after claiming Champions Cup final glory for the first time with victory over Racing 92 last weekend.
Their feat met with plenty of faint praise and complaints about a lack of attacking invention — despite the grim conditions — and Goode said: ‘As a club, we have had to deal with the “boring” tag.
‘ That makes us closer and stronger as a group. It’s just us together in a circle and everyone else is on the outside. It makes it easier for us to stay in our bubble. There has been frustration for me, too, in the World Cup and the Six Nations. I use that to drive me on.’
This afternoon, Goode will hope to take another giant stride towards claiming more silverware, by helping Saracens see off Leicester in the Premiership semi-final at Allianz Park. Once his club duties are completed, ideally in triumph at Twickenham in a week’s time, he will switch focus to the task of winning back a Test place, as England’s last line of defence.
The recognition that has come this week will do his cause no harm, but he doesn’t believe that it will sway the man charged with considering his international claims.
‘The one person who won’t give a damn about this award is Eddie Jones,’ said Goode. ‘I’ll probably suffer more for having it. He’ll be saying, “Oh, you think you’ve made it, do you mate?”, if I drop the ball in training!’
For a spell from 2012 to 2013, Goode became established as the country’s best full back, but in the last three years he has started just three Tests. Of those, one was a World Cup warm-up match at home to France, another was the dead rubber against Uruguay.
His sole involvement in the recent Grand Slam campaign was an 18-minute cameo in Rome. No wonder the whole experience left him with a hollow feeling.
‘Regardless of Eddie and the other coaches saying I was great around the training ground and being a good team man, you know deep down you haven’t played as big a part as guys like George Kruis or Billy Vunipola,’ he said.
‘People say I am a Grand Slam winner, but I know I could have had a much bigger part in it. I’m not going to chuck my medal away, but it’s not the medal that counts; it’s knowing in your mind that you’ve made a real contribution.
The key for me was to use that frustration; to go back and . . . not say “F*** England”, but focus on playing well at Saracens.
‘I don’t hold a grudge, but I’m a professional sportsman and the worst thing is not playing. That is why, more than ever, I want to be involved in this summer tour. I believe that if you’re playing well, you’ll get a shot. If I can take this form and knock on the door constantly, I’ll get my chance.’
There is speculation about a selection debate at full back. Mike Brown has not hit the same heights of a year ago and Goode has been consistently the country’s best player in his position.
It helps that he actually thinks like a full back now, rather than as a displaced fly-half.
‘When I was playing regularly for England, I think I was a 10 playing
SAYS SARACENS STAR ALEX GOODE
at 15,’ he said. ‘Now I feel like a genuine 15 rather than a 10. I’m basically doing what a full back is expected to do and it has been a mindset switch.
‘I feel that my form is a lot better now than when I was in the England side. I’ve developed the confidence to think, “They don’t want to tackle me so I’m going to run at them”.
‘Sometimes you have to put other people through gaps and sometimes you have to go on your own, and I think I have the ability to do both. I’ve upped my game immeasurably.’
Today, Goode will take on the Tigers, buoyed by the accolade that he didn’t dare believe was true. Soon, he will be taking on Brown, for the right to take on Australia. For tickets to the Aviva Premiership Final visit premiershiprugby.com/final. Warm up for the big day by taking an #AvivaTacklingNumbers maths test at aviva.co.uk/tacklingnumbers