Alex Goode exclusive: 'Owen Farrell is like Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira or Tom Brady to Saracens'

Alex Goode remembers the exact moment that the chip appeared on his shoulder some 20 plus years ago at an England under-16s trial. Despite thinking he was head and shoulders above his peers, Goode was ranked as the fourth-choice fly-half by the selectors. 

“I have always carried that chip,” Goode says. “It has always been there, that desire to prove the people who doubted me wrong. That motivation still burns bright.”

Even now entering the home straight of a glittering career, the talents of the Saracens full-back remain underappreciated. His tally of 21 England caps, the last of which came in 2016, is quite frankly an insult to a player of his ability. Much like Glenn Hoddle in football, his languid style has sometimes been falsely interpreted as a lack of commitment, when anyone around Saracens will vouch he is as hard-working and passionate as anyone in the building. 

Recently, however, the 34-year-old has found himself in the unfamiliar position of dealing with compliments and praise from coaches who were once his rivals on the field. “It is weird when you have coaches, who I used to play against, coming up to me saying: ‘We always have a plan for you,’” Goode said. “Sometimes you think that people don’t appreciate what you’re doing outside of the club. It is sort of a nice feeling but I don’t know how to deal with it.”

As Saracens’ longest-serving player, Goode is more used to dealing with brickbats rather than bouquets. Their Premiership semi-final pits them against Harlequins, who make no secret of their antipathy towards their London rivals, although Goode can remember when Exeter, Leicester and Northampton held the title of Saracens’ haters-in-chief. “The teams that played us over the years who used emotion