My Life in Rugby: Eddie Saunders – former Coventry and Rugby winger

I’m very proud to be a member of the ‘100 Club’ – players who have scored a century or more league tries. I was the first to reach the milestone and have since been followed by people like Nick Baxter and Dave Scully. All of us would acknowledge that it was the work of our team-mates who helped put us in the position to finish off opportunities.
At Coventry, my first senior club, I played behind a very good pack, and at Rugby Lions the captain Steve Brain was a real leader, who galvanised a bunch of relative unknowns into a truly close-knit team. We’d all follow Brainy into battle, it was just that I was late on a few occasions – notably at West Hartlepool, where I missed the match altogether and had a lovely day out at York instead. And then at Rosslyn Park after spending two hours circumnavigating the roads around South-west London trying to find the ground.
I was put on the bench for that game and Brainy spent most of the match glaring in my direction. Needless to say, after the final whistle, I legged it!
Being brought up in Birmingham the natural thing would have been to join Moseley, where I’d attended the local comprehensive but a scout watched me for Camp Hill and wasn’t impressed.
But Harry Walker, who, I believe, is the oldest surviving England international, saw me play for Greater Birmingham against South Warwickshire and invited me to Coventry. I was blissfully unaware of the heritage of the club, and the sort of players they had there – internationals like Huw Davies, Marcus Rose, Peter Rossborough and Graham Robbins, so it came as quite a surprise when I ran out in front of the old Cow Shed at Coundon Road for the first time against Sale.
The hairs were standing up on the back of my neck. Like most young players who thought they had made it to the big time, I got a bit of a big head but was quickly brought down to earth in a game at Gloucester where I was completely shown up by Derrick Morgan and the home fans tore into us.
I joined Rugby in 1987, as the Courage Leagues started, having become frustrated by Coventry’s forward-orientated play. Part of my motivation was to further my representative chances having been told that the Midlands selectors only considered Coventry forwards.
During the best part of 16 years at Webb Ellis Road I finished as the country’s top try scorer in successive seasons, played for the Midlands, and, best of all, in 1996 I was chosen to play for the Barbarians against Cardiff at The Arms Park, which was a dream come true.
Some very kind people have said I should have gone on to play for England but I didn’t really seize the few opportunities to impress that came my way.
In one Divisional game in Bristol I dropped balls all over the place and my chance had gone.
From a Lions’ perspective, promotion to the top flight in 1990/91 was probably the highpoint. Somehow we stayed up but by and large we were on the wrong end of some hidings. Alan Morley, the Bristol winger, once threatened to give me a personal hiding if I dared to go past him!
As a club we then fell foul of chasing the dream and brought in some ‘names’. All Black legend Walter Little, was the biggest – and the biggest disappointment. We were in awe but he failed to set the stage alight. We had some journeymen, too, who were clearly in it just for the money.
Rugby never returned to the top flight and I finished my career at 43 in 2003. Rugby Lions was my club, and always will be.