Richard Wigglesworth says Premiership title victory over Saracens 'will live with me forever'

Richard Wigglesworth enjoyed a special career at the top of the game, where he triumphed seven times in the Premiership with Sale Sharks, Saracens and Leicester Tigers. There is one memory that sticks out for him, and speaking exclusively to TNT Sports, the former England star spoke about his playing time at Sarries and winning the title with Leicester as he reflected on a remarkable career.

Premiership Icons with Richard Wigglesworth - Almost two decades of titles

Video credit: TNT Sports

Richard Wrigglesworth has revealed all about his iconic time in the Premiership with Sale Sharks, Saracens and Leicester Tigers.

The former England international racked up a record 449 Premiership appearances for the trio of clubs, where he triumphed with all three.

At the age of 37, Wigglesworth joined Leicester following a stellar career at Saracens to give the game one last roll of the dice before retirement.

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"I had more coaching offers than playing offers at that point, and I was really stubborn in the fact that I thought I had something left in me," he told TNT Sports.

"Then I got the call from Steve [Borthwick], he said, 'What are you doing?'. He said something like, 'You can be scrum-half for when Ben Youngs is away for international duty'.

"And I said [I wanted] something like that, and that I want to coach."

As if it was meant to be, Wigglesworth found himself in the team to play Saracens at Twickenham for the 2021/22 Premiership Rugby title.

He reflected on what turned out to be a truly special occasion, as Leicester claimed a historic 15-12 victory against his former employers.

"It's funny," he remembered. "The semi-final the week before, he [Borthwick] dropped me from the 23.

"And then I think it was Saracens, it was experience, it was how many of our boys had been in finals before and who hadn't.

"I still lived in St Albans at this time, so [I was] around all my mates at Sarries. I was going to a testimonial dinner with Owen [Farrell] and Mako [Vunipola]. I'm trying to pull stuff out of them and they're trying to pull stuff out of me, probably a month and a half before the final.

"I've never been as nervous for a game in my life, that one. Steve had put his neck on the line by picking me and this Saracens team hadn't lost a final for years and years. They turn up in finals. That memory will live with me forever."

Wigglesworth celebrates Leicester's win over Saracens.

Image credit: Getty Images

That title, his seventh of seven, wrapped up a legendary Premiership career.

Sixteen years earlier, in 2006, Wigglesworth won his first with Sale and reflected on the start of his glittering journey.

Asked about his recollections of playing with that star-studded Sale side, he said: "Probably just how lucky I was to play in that team, in and around those sorts of players.

"I was playing with Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto, [Sebastien] Chabal. These guys, it was incredible. It was littered with these great players I got to play with.

"I got to look and learn what it was all about. I think it was me and Magnus Lund, at that age, playing in that team, we were just like, 'How good is this?'."

Wigglesworth joined Saracens in 2010, and it did not take long for him to collect his second title alongside an up-and-coming Farrell.

"I think it was Owen Farrell's first final where he had come into the team as a 19-year-old," he said.

"We said, 'This young kid looks pretty good, doesn't he? This Farrell lad, let's put him in and back him'.

"And that turned out to be a pretty good decision!"

Wigglesworth went on to claim four more titles with Sarries alongside Farrell, who claimed six in total.

The club's next Premiership crown came in 2015, which kick-started four golden years and saw them claim four out of the next five titles.

"I think that was born out of the 2011 to 2015 [period], we lost a load of semi-finals and finals," Wigglesworth said. "There was lots of hurt in that period.

"We'd finish top of the league, lose a home semi-final. We'd get to a European semi-final and lose. Get battered by Toulon.

"There were all these incidents along the way, where I think we needed to dominate for a while because we knew how hard it was.

"We were in a real sweet spot for leadership. We had this spine of guys who just wouldn't allow a training session to go by without it being of the highest quality.

"I had a chat with Owen the other day about how we'd fall out in training all the time if we weren't in the same team. You end up falling out, then you'd be laughing after the training session about it."