England rugby ace Alex Goode vows to bury double heartache

Alex Goode of Saracens at the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series fixtures announcement.

Alex Goode admits Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership semi-final losses with Saracens last season were incredibly painful to take – but the England No 15 has promised it won’t be another season of regret at the Allianz Park.

A Jonny Wilkinson inspired Toulon edged a narrow European thriller at Twickenham in late April, while Northampton Saints discarded with the Aviva Premiership form-guide as they collected an unlikely semi-final success on Saracens’ soil in the league weeks later.

While it may have been a season of on-field success for former Cambridge player Goode personally – he started all of England’s Six Nations fixtures – Saracens finished the season empty-handed as a result of their double semi-final heartache.

And Goode is desperate to shake-off their ‘nearly-men’ tag as he looks ahead to a new Aviva Premiership season – his side start their campaign off with a London Double Header fixture against London Irish.

And the England international, who is from Duxford, admits the pain of last season and missing out on silverware is driving him on to ensure it will be a successful campaign for club and country come September.

“I think we are bitterly disappointed personally and collectively because we put ourselves in a great position and we could have done better,” said Goode, who will see his Saracens side kick-off their competitive season at the Allianz Park on August 3 in the JP Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s Series.

“We were top of the league, got ourselves into a European semi playing at Twickenham and unfortunately we had a close game and we lost it to Toulon, which was a game we could have won, and the semi-final versus Northampton was another huge disappointment.

“The Northampton game was hard to take and they played unbelievably well and they deserved to win that day, which is disappointing. We pride ourselves on physicality and the way we play and it was missing that day and they took advantage of that.

“So I think that’s something we were obviously disappointed about, hopefully that frustration will spur us on that little bit more for next year. It’s obviously disappointing scenario but for me that extra motivation is fantastic.”

Goode revealed the season-opening Premiership 7s is a competition Saracens are targeting to win.

“I think Saracens have taken it pretty seriously over the last few years, we’ve won it once or twice, we’ve been in the final, we want to win it, we really enjoy it, and it’s a great way to get people going and to start the season well,” he said.

“I think, first of all everyone wants to win silverware and I think it sets a good tone for the rest of the season.

“You win there or you put some good performances in there, it raises the bar, and the players that are coming back from England or Lions, they go ‘right we need to make sure we’re playing well’, and it just adds that competition in the squad.”

* The third leg of JP Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s will be at Allianz Park, the home of Saracens, on Saturday August 3. For tickets and more information, visit www.jpmorgan7s.com or follow @jpmorganrugby7s.

England rugby ace Alex Goode vows to bury double heartache