Alexander David Goode (born 7 May 1988) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player playing for Saracens in

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

Biography

All-rounder Goode appeared at the national schools athletics finals, played county tennis and was part of the

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

football academy before joining Saracens. He is the nephew of Jo Goode, who won an Olympic bronze in Badminton in Sydney. A fly half by trade, he moved to full back and has played the majority of his games for Saracens in these positions. He was educated at St Faith's School,

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Histo ...

and

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

, and at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

Club career

He joined the academy structure at Saracens ahead of the 2006–2007 season, and made his club debut against

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He has since signed several contract extensions. He was awarded the 2019 European Player of the Year award. During his time at Saracens he has won five Premiership titles in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, with Goode featuring in all five finals and scoring a try in the 2016 final. He also helped Saracens win the European Champions Cup in 2016, 2017 and 2019, scoring a try in the 2017 final. He spent a season on loan to Japanese side

NEC Green Rockets NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu (formerly NEC Green Rockets) is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. The team's captain iRyota Asano The previous captain was Takuro Miuchi, who was also the captain of the Japan national rugby unio ...

while Saracens competed in the 2020–21 RFU Championship. After Saracens' quick return he returned to them for the following season. He has since become the most capped Saracens player in their history - with 339 appearances for the London club.

International career

Goode represented England at Under 16A and Under 18 level. Goode played at the

2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship The International Rugby Board (IRB) awarded the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Ulster branch hosted it. The Tournament, which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 4–21 April, ...

. In 2008 Goode was a member of the England under-20 team that won the grand slam and reached the final of the

2008 IRB Junior World Championship The 2008 IRB Junior World Championship was the first annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. All players who were twenty years of age or under on 1 January 2008 were eligible for selection. This competition repla ...

. In January 2009 Goode made his debut for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

, against . On 16 June 2012 Goode made his test debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, coming off the bench on 16 June 2012 in a 36–27 loss. Goode was part of the squad selected for the 2012 Autumn internationals, because of injuries to Ben Foden he started all four of the games at full back. He played well enough to earn himself QBE Man of the Match in England's 54–12 win over Fiji. Goode also featured in the

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

, playing all five games including the Grand Slam decider at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Unfortunately a shoulder injury and subsequent reconstructive surgery sidelined him for England's summer tour to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

International tries

References

External links

Saracens profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goode, Alex 1988 births Living people Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire Cambridge R.U.F.C. players English rugby union players Rugby union players from Cambridge People educated at Oakham School People educated at The Leys School Saracens F.C. players England international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves