By Darraghgirl
June 15 2016

Every year, the End of Season Poll includes a question “which player, (other than J B Wilkinson) would you like to join Saracens?” and every year, however unlikely it might seem, one of the favourite choices was Charlie Hodgson.

If ever there was a one club man it was Charlie. Born and bred in Yorkshire, he grew up as a Rugby League fan and ended up playing Union by accident. He played for Old Bodleians, Durham University (where he studied Sports Science) and Yorkshire before joining Sale Sharks in 2000. He rapidly became a firm favourite with the Sharks’ supporters and helped Sale to their only Premiership title in 2006 with a win over Leicester Tigers.

Charlie and Sale seemed to go together like salt and pepper so it was a huge surprise when he announced he was leaving for Saracens in 2011. He signed just a week after the 2 clubs met in the Premiership. At the time Sale were yet again flirting with relegation and the club was not a happy place to be. Juan Martin Fernandez-Lobbe and Sebastian Chabal had already gone. It was musical chairs at the top with Kingsley Jones, Jason Robinson, Keith Roach, Mike Brewer and Pete Anglesea all trying their hands at coaching and offering different styles. It is rumoured that Brewer and Charlie did not see eye to eye. Brewer overlooked Charlie for the captaincy and was very critical of him following a defeat by Wasps. It was not a happy camp. Rumour has it that Charlie asked his former team mate Richard Wigglesworth how he found things down south and Wiggy persuaded Charlie to pack his bags and move to London. Having made his decision, Charlie then completed his season at Edgeley Park, captaining Sale against Gloucester, scoring his 1,000^th Premiership point and ensuring Sale were safe from relegation. Sale Chief Executive Mike Hogan said "Without doubt, he will be considered one of the greatest players to ever play for Sale Sharks".

Charlie was selected to play for England by Clive Woodward at the tender age of 21 and made his debut against Romania in 2001, scoring a record 44 points in England’s 134-0 victory. Of course a certain Jonny Wilkinson was in possession of the 10 shirt by 2003 and Charlie was picked at centre before sadly rupturing his left cruciate ligament which ruined any chances of a world cup appearance or a winner’s medal. He recovered and won several more England caps and was selected for the Lions in 2005 before his timing let him down again and in November 2006 he ruptured his right cruciate ligament which effectively ruled him out of the 2007 World Cup Finals. During that period, and with Jonny out of action, he started 18 consecutive matches – a record for an England fly half. Charlie continued his “on-off” relationship with the National side going from hero to villain (as was always going to be the way for Jonny’s understudy). His goal kicking wasn’t always solid and he was perceived as a weak defender which led to him being dropped from the National team in 2008. Following his move to Sarries, Charlie was recalled to Stuart Lancaster’s new look England team at the start of 2012. He earned the nick name “Charge Down Charlie” after scoring 2 charge down tries in his first 2 Internationals against Scotland and Italy, only to be replaced in the team by his protégée, Owen Farrell. He retired from International Rugby that summer having won 38 caps and scoring 269 points.

On joining Sarries, Charlie said “I was quite nervous about coming here: on the one hand there was the challenge of walking into a new environment without knowing exactly what to expect and on the other there was the fear that all those years at Sale had left me set in my ways – that I'd find it hard to adapt. But the way they do things makes it easy for newcomers, assuming they're the right newcomers. Once they decided they wanted me, the welcome they gave me was fabulous. How is that repaid? You repay the club on the field – not just in matches, but every day in training. It's a straightforward arrangement and players respond positively to it. If they didn't like the way things are done here, they'd go elsewhere, wouldn't they? Look at the facts: we have a very small turnover of personnel these days."”

Charlie played his first game for the new English Champions at Twickenham in the Double Header defeat to Wasps. At almost 31 he had nothing to prove to his new club but it was going to take time for the 2 to meld. He has always been the most gifted of fly halves, able to manage a game like a conductor leads his orchestra. He plays very flat, his passing is sublime and he reads the game better and faster than most. Undoubtedly one of the reasons Sarries wanted to secure Charlie’s services was to mentor their young fly half Owen Farrell. Owen began the 2010/11 season dual registered with Bedford Blues but injuries to Alex Goode & Derick Hougaard left an opportunity at fly half which he grabbed with both hands, finishing off the season with a mature and controlled performance in the Final. But despite his prodigious talent, he wasn’t the finished article and in the early days, the contrast between the way the team played when Charlie took the reins was striking.

When Charlie joined Sarries, the club had a reputation for being dour and boring. But no club with Charlie at the helm could stay like that and he was instrumental in getting an increasingly talented back line, which featured the likes of David Strettle and later Chris Ashton to show what they could do. In the 2010/11/12 seasons, Saracens scored just 35 tries but things slowly improved with 41 in 2012/13, 68 in 2013/14, 70 in 2014/15 and 60 last season. This more expansive style of play was in no small measure down to Charlie’s influence, both personally and later in developing Owen’s game to a far more rounded one. It was fascinating to watch the Master/Apprentice evolution. And as these things do, one day the Apprentice became the Master, or almost at any rate. Charlie was pure class, 24 carat gold. Form they say is temporary, class is permanent and even as he got a bit older, a bit balder, a bit more fragile, that class shone through. No one could pass a rugby ball like Charlie. As Chris Ashton said “Charlie has been great for Owen but he has given us so much more than that. His scoring record is insane and as a playmaker he’s a wizard. I have never seen a better passer of the ball”.

Charlie is the Premiership’s leading points scorer. He scored his 2,000^th point fittingly at Twickenham in 2012 against Irish. When he retired last month he had scored 2,623 premiership points in 253 games, 338 more than his closest rival Andy Goode.

Speaking in 2014 Charlie said "What I'd love to do in the time remaining is win another Premiership title" and enjoy a really good run in Europe. I've been to two Heineken Cup quarter-finals, but it's an ambition to go further." His wish was to be fulfilled.

Charlie was on the bench for the 2015 Premiership Final against Bath where he won his second Championship medal. He announced he would retire from Rugby at the end of the 2015/16 season. By now his job was largely done. Owen was flying and in the form of his life, his game now with far more variation and flair and so much flatter. He had always been a reliable and nerveless kicker (something he might have taught Charlie!) but he had learned so many more tricks from the Magician. Charlie scored his last try for Saracens, a glorious interception that capped a man of the match performance, away against Newcastle Falcons in December. He covered admirably for Owen during the 6 Nations and Saracens gave Charlie the honour of captaining the side on his final appearance against his former team at the A J Bell although sadly it didn’t go to plan when he had to leave the field with a head injury. He played his 250^th game at Wembley against Harlequins and eventually made 253 Premiership appearances, his last in the 2016 Final. Owen’s untimely suspension at the end of the regular season gave him 2 more games in which to show his brilliance, and gave us, the supporters, the pleasure of his company for just a little bit longer. Another injury to Owen in the semi-final victory over Leicester enabled him to take the field at Allianz for one last hurrah, kicking the 8 points which sealed the victory. He appeared briefly at the end of Saracens’ European Final victory over Racing 92 before making a cameo appearance at Twickenham as Saracen’s retained their Premiership title. He went out with the style and glory he deserved.

After the Premiership final, Charlie said: "This is what dreams are made of isn’t it. I think I never would have expected us to be involved with two big finals at the end of the season and credit to these guys they’ve put in a massive amount of work throughout the year and to come away with the trophy is amazing".

But although he has hung his boots up, Saracens wanted to keep Charlie on board and offered him a brand new position as “Head of Recruitment”, a post he seems to have grasped with relish. Charlie said, on his impending retirement: “"It was a very tough call to make, as being a rugby player is the only thing I've ever known. In one sense my career seems to have lasted a lifetime and in another sense it's just flown by. It was a difficult decision to make, but my body is now telling me that it's probably the right thing to do. I've been presented with an amazing opportunity to be here at Saracens in a different capacity, and it's an opportunity I felt that I just couldn't turn down."

I have no doubt we will still see him about the training ground, not just to support Owen but also with Alex Lozowoski joining the club, the Hodgson Masterclass will doubtless continue. The Master has a new Apprentice.