Longbottom returns to Saracens with unfinished business

Returning Saracens prop Kieran Longbottom insists his England ambitions remain alive after fully recovering from a foot injury that was so severe he doubted he would ever walk properly again, let alone return to play Premiership rugby.
Tight-head Longbottom, a Perth-born Australian who qualifies for England through his late maternal grandmother, was on the verge of a Red Rose call-up in November 2014 before suffering the chronic injury that threatened to change his life.
Two painful years of rehab followed at Saracens before he was able to resume his career at Sale, and after a stop-start campaign in Manchester totalling 20 appearances he hopes a full pre-season back at Saracens will thrust him on to the international radar again.
Longbottom, 31, told The Rugby Paper: “Absolutely I have that ambition. I'm always aspiring to play at a high level and I want an England cap before I'm done.
“People might scoff at that and say I'm mad, but being out of the game for a couple of years has actually aged me well and if I can get stuck in at Saracens this season and get back to where I was in 2014, you never know what might follow.”
Recalling his injury and the hellish road back, Longbottom explained: “The initial injury in the middle area of my left foot dislocated the joint and destroyed the ligaments just behind my big toe, so it happened in the worst possible area.
“The pain was like nothing I'd felt before and I couldn't put any weight through the foot, so during my rehab I had this weird walking action.
“The physios at Saracens kept working with me and we threw everything at it, but it got to the point where only a fusion operation could save my career. Fair play to Saracens, though, they stuck by me when other clubs might have dumped me.
“There were some very dark days and at 29 or 30 I was thinking, ‘is my foot going to be like this forever?' But it's pretty impressive what the surgeons can do and it's been awesome to be back playing again and feeling pain free.”
Longbottom added: “An option to join Sale came up last year and I enjoyed my time there. I didn't have the best season because I was still coming back and didn't have a proper pre-season, but I'm totally confident about things now.
“It's great being back at Saracens with all these coaches and players I know and it was a good moment on my first day seeing the smiles on everyone's faces. To be accepted again was special and it feels like I haven't really been away.”
With tight-heads Petrus du Plessis having moved on to London Irish and American prop star Titi Lamositele nursing a neck injury, Longbottom can expect to be pressed quickly into front row service alongside returning Lions heroes Jamie George, left, and Mako Vunipola.
He said: “The prospect of packing down alongside Jamie is fantastic. I'm super pumped with what he's done and he deserves everything that's come to him.
“When I originally came to Saracens from Australia in 2014 he welcomed me with open arms and he's a dead-set legend here now. He played so well for the Lions and it can only be a matter of time before he's England's No.1 hooker.
“Seeing so many Saracens guys in the Lions team shows what the club's done with its academy since the big changes in 2009. The harvest has come and it's been a glut, so there's no reason why that can't continue with another big season.”
Longbottom insists he has no hotline to fellow Aussie Eddie Jones, but adds: “All I want to do is get back playing at my best for Sarries because they stood by me during a really bad period, but I can still dream of playing for England.”
NEALE HARVEY