Guinness Premiership : Player of the Year Haughton signs new Sarries deal

Sarries player of the year Richard Haughton

Player of the Year Haughton signs new Sarries deal

12 May 2008, 7:34 pm

By Jonathan McConnell

Richard Haughton has celebrated being named Saracens Player of the Year by signing a new contract with the North London club.

The 27-year-old speedster, who has crossed the line 11 times this season, has put pen to paper on a two-year deal and he is hoping to make it a triple celebration when the squads for England’s summer tours are announced tomorrow.

Haughton’s excellent form saw him pick up the newly named Richard Hill Saracens Player of the Season Award on Saturday night and it has also led to calls from coaches and pundits for him to be part of the national set-up.

“The only thing I can do to influence that is play well for Saracens and I’ve been pleased with how things have gone this season,” explained Haughton who came through the Academy ranks and is now in his 10th year with the club. “I’ll be watching out for the squads and keeping my fingers crossed as will a lot of other guys. Everyone wants to play for their country and I am no different.”

Haughton was a regular in the England 7s shirt up until 2007 but has since decided to concentrate on the 15 man game where he’s starting to see the results, and the Player of the Year award is testament to that.

“I’m a lot more resilient and as a result, I’m playing more rugby,” he added. “I put on some weight and bulked up a bit at the start of the season and that has meant I’ve suffered less injuries. Because of that I’m enjoying my rugby and this season the coaches have also given me the added responsibility of playing at full back and that has been good for me.

“That’s why I’m really pleased to have signed a new deal. I’ve been at Saracens for 10 years so this is like a second home to me. It’s also an honour to be named Player of the Season as that is something that comes through delivering consistent performances over a season – something I’ve not done in the past.

“It’s an exciting time to be at Saracens. We’ve shown in the past two seasons by making the semi-finals of four competitions that we can compete with the best, although there is still some work to do in terms of our consistency. We’ve got some new players joining the club in the summer and also a change in the coaching structure so it’s a good time to be part of the club as we look to continue our development.”