BEN FODEN – 34-capped England International
SCRUM-HALF or full-back? My dad still has that debate with me every time I go back home!
There was certainly a lot of toing and froing in the early years at Sale and then Saints before I settled on playing 15.
I've certainly got no regrets with the way things turned out for me in rugby, although obviously it would have been nice to go on a Lions tour and I also wanted to play for the Barbarians but never got an opportunity to do either.
The 2009 Lions tour to South Africa was the one I thought I should have gone on; I was in the form of my life and I was young and hungry. But they called up James Hook as fullback injury cover instead.
Around that time, I'd developed a good back-three partnership with Chris Ashton and Mark Cueto in the England team and went to the 2011 World Cup as first-choice full-back.
While you're never guaranteed your place in any England team, that was about as comfortable (and fit) as I'd ever felt.
In terms of the opposition, France were my team, my good luck charm. My first start was against them and I scored in the corner. We lost the game but that gave me a real taste of what international rugby was all about. I think I scored in all four of my Tests against France, the last one in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final defeat.
From that point on, I got injury after injury and rarely played when 100 per cent fit, which harmed my chances of going on the next Lions tour in
2013. Injuries also pushed open the door for others to take my place, people like Brownie (Mike Brown) were coming through and Goodey (Alex Goode) was in the mix as well.
I think I won my last cap for England when I was only 28.
Going back to the scrumhalf/full-back debate, I made my mind up to play 15 when England started making noises that they would consider picking me if I concentrated on playing there. It was the right thing to do because Ben Youngs and Danny Care were my competition at the age of 18/19. One is England men's most-capped player and the other is still carving it up in the Premiership!
The first of my three Premiership final appearances did come as a 9, though. I remember having a stormer for Sale at Northampton towards the end of the regular season when we'd already booked our place in the semi-finals and Philippe (Saint-Andre) sent down what was effectively a second XV. I scored and set up a couple of others and Dewi Morris and Stuart Barnes were really banging the drum for me on Sky Sports' Rugby Club.
“I won my last cap for England when I was only 28”
Even so, I turned up at Edgeley Park for the semi-final against Wasps expecting to be 24th man and left my boots in the car. But as I approached the meeting room I could hear Philippe and Wiggy (Richard Wigglesworth) having a heated row. When Wiggy walked out, he shook me by the hand and said, ‘you're in' and wished me the best of luck. Sililo Martens dislocated his shoulder about 25 minutes from the end of that game when we were about 10 points up. Normally I was brought on to ramp things but this time my instructions were to slow the game down and see it out, which we did.
Fair play to Wiggy, he went into bat for himself and got the nod for the final against Leicester. Rightly so, too, as he'd played well for most of the season. I was just pleased to get 10-15 minutes at the end. The following year I played a lot on the wing as well as at 9.
I was lucky to play 9 the last game that Robbo (Jason Robinson) played against Bath at Edgeley Park. Only he could sign off the way he did, by scoring in the corner in the last play and then converting to get us the win. It was awesome to be a part of that. I then had a season playing full-back, and loved it.
But Jim Mallinder got in touch and asked me to come to Franklin's Gardens and play 9.
It was a very clever move as he signed Lee Dickson at the same time and he said we'd rotate and do two games on and two games off and asked if I wanted to sit on the bench at 9 or start at full-back when it was Lee's turn to start. In my contract I got more money if I started so it was a no-brainer and slowly but surely I became a specialist full-back.
Being part of that Saints team was one of the proudest moments of my career. We went from being a newly-promoted side with mostly young players to one that won the Premiership in the space of just six seasons, as well as winning other silverware and reaching big finals in between.
We felt we were robbed in the first Premiership final against Leicester, believing that had we kept 15 players on the field, we'd have won. So it added fuel to the fire the following year. It was a humdinger against Saracens. I scored in that game as well and it kept going back and forth and eventually into extra-time. As an outside back, I normally hate seeing the forwards picking and going for 12 phases, there is nothing worse because calls can easily go against you. But luckily, this time, Alex Waller got the ball down over the line and we became champions. We partied hard that night.
After that, everyone – players, coaches and staff – took their foot off the gas a little bit, and eventually there was a big changing of the guard with Big Jim leaving and an exodus of players. It's good to see where Northampton are at now, they seem to be a similar position to where we were with young guys coming up from the academy, breaking into the England team, and competing in the top four. I really like what Chris Boyd has done and Phil Dowson is a wicked human being and a good coach. It's exciting times and I think they are in good hands.
When I left Saints, there was a little bit of bitterness that I wasn't offered a new deal as I'd captained the team a fair bit the previous season and felt I was still playing well. Alan Dickens was stand-in coach and there was nobody really at the head of the whole rugby department to take charge of recruitment because Boyd had been appointed but hadn't come in yet. My contract running out couldn't have come at a worse time.
It hits you very hard when you're 31 and you're struggling to get a contract and the Nike deals aren't happening any more. It really hit home for me when, nine months after leaving Saints, I went to watch a game and instead of hearing the fans singing ‘Foden's on fire…', they were singing ‘Furbank's on fire…'. I was delighted for him that things were going so well but it does remind you how short a shelf life you have and that you're just a commodity.
“When I left Saints there was a little bit of bitterness”
I had a few Premiership clubs and French clubs interested in me but I had a lot going on in my personal life at the time and I felt something fresh would be good for me and moving to New York to join the MLR was a good chance for me to escape the media and the unwanted attention of my divorce and try something new. I don't regret it at all.
There was a dark period, probably for about a year and a half when I was in a one-bed apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan. I really missed family life and the responsibility that comes with that. Sometimes you'd find yourself thinking what is the point of being there. Sadly these things happen and Una and I weren't meant to be but we are amicable now.
We all go through dark times and learn lessons, and I learnt some harsh ones, but I am in a really good spot. I am about to start a new career path (in high-end real estate) and I am still involved with rugby (with Fordham University in the Bronx). I think good things are around the corner for American rugby leading into the World Cup. Also, meeting my new wife has given me a new sense of being, and I am excited by what the next chapter has in store for me.
– as told to Jon Newcombe
