Sarries legend Alex Goode makes rugby return - for the Lions

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

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.

So when Camden Town Brewery were looking to enlist a bit of stardust to help support their new grassroots rugby initiative Give ‘Em Hells, Goode was the perfect man to turn to.

What do Owen Farrell’s teammates think of his tackling? – | Alex Goode

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Now a part-time member of the Saracens 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.

However, Goode’s love of rugby runs very deep, so he happily accepted Camden’s invitation to lace up his boots again and make a cameo appearance for Rugby Lions RFC.

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 ‘Rugby’s biggest round’.

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

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, ‘how hard could it be?’

“It was eight leagues down, so I thought it would be easy to bob along, and it would be alright. But that wasn’t quite the case,” Goode admitted.

“We 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.

“I turned up at 2, and they were already taping up on the field, and I was like, ‘what the **** have I walked into here’?

“We 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.

“People 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’s what I loved seeing from the Rugby Lions.

“If you talk to any of my coaches, they’ll tell you I hate losing, I will always try to find a way to win, whether you’re 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.

“I played full-back and spent a lot of time in the frontline, having to make some tackles,” Goode added.

“I went into it thinking if I don’t have to make a tackle, that would be good, since I haven’t played since the last game against Bath in May.

“But, within you, there is a mix of competitiveness that you want to win, but I also don’t want to look like a fraud.

“People say you have got nothing to prove to Rugby Lions, but I was like, ‘I do to myself’.

“Once you put a shirt on, the worst thing would be if the boys said, ‘he didn’t want to be there, he wasn’t great’.

“Even though I wasn’t 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.

“That was important for me, and I hope the players felt that.

“Scott Quinnell was there and he said to me afterwards, ‘you’re a Lion now, mate.'”

Rugby Lions suffered a sobering 63-13 defeat, but the fact they’d got another team out – plus one special guest – was enough reason to celebrate.

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 as head coach, and promised the world, only to let everyone down.

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

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.

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.

“It seems to have followed me around for the test of time, that one,” he said.

“I didn’t quite say to them we only do that when we win the European Cup, it’s 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.

“Fundamentally, it is what rugby is all about, the grassroots level. If I have played a small part in helping Rugby Lions there, then great.”

Could Goode be persuaded to come out of retirement again? “It was very much a one-off. I am happily retired,” was his honest answer.