My Life in Rugby: Jon Sleightholme – former Bath, Northampton & England wing
Not bad for a lad from north Yorkshire with no rugby tradition in the area or in my family.
I went to university at Chester and played for Wakefield, the most enjoyable days of my career.
I was starting to get some recognition as a winger, playing for the North of England and age-group stuff and at the end of my second year I got an offer from Bath, who, at that time, were rugby’s Manchester United.
My first year, 1994-5, was still in the amateur era so I was training and working a job as a teacher.
That was exhausting but I made my breakthrough and the 1995-6 season, when I cemented my place in the Bath team, will live long in the memory.
I was playing alongside some of my all-time heroes, people like Jerry Guscott and it was an incredible time. We won the league and cup double and I was called up by England for the 1996 Five Nations.
There were also the cross-code matches with Wigan and I’d have loved to have played League.
I actually turned down some offers at the time because I wanted to crack on with England. I’d played England A already and I knew most of the England backline when I came in, playing with Guscott and Mike Catt My debut was the first game of that Five Nations when we lost in Paris against France, a very proud moment for me but not the result we wanted.
But we bounced back to win the title and scoring a try in the final round as we beat Ireland at Twickenham was amazing.
The game then turned professional which meant I could stop the teaching and focus on the game, although most of us didn’t know what we were doing.
Because we were professional we thought we had to give it everything every day and on more than one occasion I’d run out for a match feeling absolutely knackered.
The 1997 Five Nations saw me keep my place and I scored two tries against Ireland in Dublin.
I was gutted when I wasn’t picked for the 1997 Lions tour to South Africa but at 24 felt there would be more chances to come.
But what followed still leaves a bitter taste. Bath told me there were putting me on the transfer list when Ieuan Evans joined. I’d moved my life down there, signed a contract and now I wasn’t wanted.
But my time at Northampton was fantastic. I never played for England again but that move was the best decisions of my career.
We won the Heineken Cup in 2000, one of my favourite memories even though I got injured and missed the semi and final.
Injuries then plagued me but when Wayne Smith came I got two more good seasons and retired on my own terms in 2004.
