Hooker Haywood taking his chances as Saints prepare for showdown with Saracens

By JON NEWCOMBE

PREVIEW…

Saracens v Northampton

Today. Kick-off 12.15pm, Stone X Stadium

BY rights, Southend-born and Colchester raised Mike Haywood should have been lining up against Saints today in a Sarries jersey.

Essex is normally a rich breeding ground for Sarries to tap into, but a quirk of geography dictated his career went in a different direction.

“I was at Colchester Rugby Club and, for some reason, I went to Suffolk (Constituent Body) instead of Essex, and then from there I went to Eastern Counties and Eastern Counties falls under Northampton so that's why I ended up going that way,” he explained.

“If I'd have gone the other way I would have ended up being up against Jamie George and I may not have ended up being a rugby player!”

Not that Haywood would have it any other way. The just-turned 31-yearold hooker has made over 250 first-team appearances in 11 years for Saints, roughly half of them off the bench.

However, with Sam Matavesi tackling himself into the ground with Fiji during the autumn, Hay- wood is set for a good run in the number two jersey.

A hat-trick of starts and wins, following the recent successes against Exeter and Bristol, would add to his upbeat mood. “We talked about this being a really important time for us, when the boys go away, to put up our hands and get results. For me personally, it's been quite nice the last couple of weeks to get extra touches and get my hands on the ball. It's been nice to get the opportunity to run out with the boys.”

A shift in mindset as well as more regular game time has been behind Haywood's transformation. “About four years ago I did my knee, I tore my MCL and ACL and, after that, it was quite hard getting back into rugby. I don't know why but I didn't massively enjoy myself and then these last couple of seasons I have really started to enjoy myself again and, hopefully, my rugby is going back in the direction that I want it go in.

“I've tried to forget about making mistakes so instead of going out there thinking, ‘if I make a mistake, I will really hurt the team', I just tell myself, ‘it happens, even to the best players, can it and leave them behind'. I don't like not getting selected, even if it's on the bench so having that as motivation is quite good for me as well.”

In their 26-19 win over the Chiefs last Friday, Saints fronted up physically and were on point with their discipline.

And Haywood says a repeat will be necessary if they are going to get another good result today. “We've got to make sure we are firing on all cylinders,” he said. “Last weekend we gave away five penalties and two free kicks which, against a side like Exeter, starves them of the ball and stops them doing what they want to do. It's the same sort of thing with Sarries. If we give Sarries opportunities, they'll take them.”