Age won’t wither Wigglesworth bid to play again for England
Hoorah…the RFU have a chief executive who follows rugby
SARACENS scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth is determined to prove that age is no barrier to England selection after being handed an unexpected lifeline by Red Rose boss Eddie Jones.
Wigglesworth, 34, looked to have played his last game for England against Uruguay at the end of the disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign.
However, his enduring excellence for Saracens during successive Champions Cup-winning seasons persuaded Jones, right, to take another look, and after being summoned to the recent training camp in London, Wigglesworth is looking towards November.
He told The Rugby Paper: “I don't know if I was ever mad about being overlooked by England as I kind of understood it, but I had a call from Eddie saying he wanted to have a look at me during the Barbarians week in May and he saw something he liked.
“I don't think you ever give up on England – I certainly hadn't – but my issue was that I always thought there were improvements left in me. Although I'm 34, I don't feel like I'm 34 and it's exciting that Eddie's seen there might be something left in me.
“I went to the pre-season training camp in August and it's an impressive environment to be in, but it's one thing getting into a training squad and entirely another making a match day squad, so I've got to try and improve and see where that takes me.”
Wigglesworth, who has 27 England caps, added: “Eddie's given me some pointers and I've taken those on board. He wants me to continue to work on my running game and work with the strength and conditioning staff to improve a few things there.
“You don't want to give too much away but I'll be making sure I'm on top of all that and, hopefully, I can be in and around that England squad come November. If not, there'll be no hissing and moaning from me, but it's something I'm keen to experience.”
Wigglesworth faces huge competition from regular No.9s Ben Youngs and Danny Care, plus summer tourist Jack Maunder and on-fire Wasps pivot Dan Robson. He also has to nail down his Saracens place in the face of Ben Spencer's rising challenge.
Wigglesworth said: “That's the standard of English rugby right now, not just at your own club but right across the Premiership. There are so many good scrum-halves and the standard has increased immeasurably over the last five or six years.
“It's a challenge for the young guys to develop at such a rate that they get themselves enough Premiership rugby, but I've stopped worrying about what anyone else is doing after spending far too many years looking at how others are playing.
“All I'm worrying about is Saracens and it's another season where you want to start well and put yourself in a position to win things at the end of the year. It was gutting to miss out on the Premiership last year and we want another shot.”
