Graham enjoys serving up the goods for Saints
SAM GRAHAM worked as a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant but gave it up to pursue a career in rugby and is now serving up performances for Northampton.
The 25-year old had a tough start in professional rugby, released by Bristol before joining Doncaster in the Championship where he quickly became club captain.
Northampton moved for him last summer and although he has had to wait for his chance in a club which has a richly stocked back row, he has featured in nine of their last Premiership matches and made an impact from the bench in the victory at Leicester in the last round.
“I am someone who works really hard and always wants more,” said Graham, who can play across the back row. “I want to keep pushing on and it is awesome to be part of Northampton.
“I was in the senior academy at Bristol for more than two years but I was not good enough. The only way to get better was through playing and it was tough during the Covid lockdowns.
“Doncaster was the right move for me. The coaching group there put their trust in me, someand
thing that was not the case at Bristol, and made me captain in my second season.
“I did not see it as a step down, more a sidestep to help me get where I wanted to be. I never gave up hope of playing in the Premiership and when Northampton approached me, I was taken aback by how much they knew about me.”
Graham started playing at Chippenham and was in Bath’s academy before moving to Bristol.
In between he spent nine months in New Zealand playing for Massey in Auckland, a move which convinced him that his future lay in playing rather than plating.
“I worked at the Manor House in Castle Combe under the Welsh Michelin starred chef Richard Davies, but it was not what I wanted to do,” he said. “I thrived in New Zealand and I grew in confidence there. I watched my stepbrother, Chris Goodman, play for Bath and Bedford travelling around the country made me want to become a professional. I learned from him that you have to back yourself.”
Graham did not hesitate when Northampton came in for him and at Sale on the opening day of the season he realised his ambition of playing in the Premiership when he came on in the 54th-minute at Sale as a replacement – he had played in the European Challenge Cup and the
Championship for Bristol, but never in the top flight.
“That was a special day for me,” he said. “When I walked through the door at Doncaster, I immediately got a sense of how the coaches saw me fitting into their plans and it was the same with Northampton.
“They had done their background and they wanted me to get my hands on the ball and carry as well as be an aggressive defender. It took time to adjust because the Premiership is quicker than the Championship, but one of my favourite things is proving people wrong.
“I was told I was making a big mistake when I gave up a career as a chef, but I love playing rugby and being part of a big club like Northampton shows I made the right decision.”
A big date in Graham’s calendar is March 3 when Northampton travel to Ashton Gate to face Bristol, but before then they have home matches against Sale and Gloucester as they look to consolidate their place in the top four.
“The win at Leicester was a big step for us and we now have a big block of fixtures coming up with some players away with England,” he said. “It give me the chance to step up and my job is to put pressure on all the other back rowers here.”