Wigglesworth finds fresh legs with Saracens old boys’ club

“I don’t think you can underestimate how enjoyable winning is week to week” says Richard Wigglesworth, who has reinforced his words by signing for another season with Saracens this week.

When his latest contract ends in 2020, the England international will have spent a decade at the club and be approaching 37.

Wigglesworth’s time with Saracens will have eclipsed the eight years he spent with Sale Sharks. The fact he is still playing to a high enough level to be selected by England in his midthirties is no accident, putting him in contention to make the squad for next year’s Rugby World Cup.

“Two or three years ago I wasn’t feeling any different and I thought, ‘I need to protect myself here and work out why I feel good’,” he reveals. “I put a few things in place and decided I fancied playing on until my late thirties. Just listening to my body. It has taken me a long time to do that, not putting a brave face on things if you are bit sore.”

Wigglesworth is following a familiar path trodden recently by former colleague Neil de Kock, the South African scrum-half who spent 11 years at Saracens. Another Bok, Schalk Brits, left in the summer having joined in 2009. In other words. turn up to