Goode Vibrations Resounding from London to Lagos

No path in sport is straightforward. In any given career, the trail forks at numerous points. There, each individual will face decisions that may seem initially benign but, in retrospect, are crucial to the future course of their sporting life.

The striking diversity of the respective rugby experiences of Jamie and Alex Goode are testament to this, to the point that it was unusual for the rugby-playing brothers from Cambridge to be in the same arena on Saturday. To add a spark of glamour to their tale, the vicinity in question was Wembley Stadium, where Saracens were competing against Leinster in the Heineken Cup.

Watching from the stands, Jamie would have been very proud, but in no way embittered by jealousy. Besides, in the quest to establish a Nigerian national side, he has a thrilling venture of his own to contribute to in the sport.

When talking of the steps his sibling has made in the game, no traces of envy threaten to corrupt Jamie’s glowing sentiments. “I always manage to keep an eye on how Alex is doing,” he states.

“Though when I am in Nigeria it can be difficult. I will probably get a text off mum or dad to say if he has had a good game but we will generally speak once a week and tell each other how things are going.”

The younger of the pair was firmly on centre stage at the weekend, first opening the scoring with a well taken try in the right hand corner before stepping into the kicking boots of the injured Derick Hougaard to slot four nerveless penalty goals.

Though 25 points from tyro fly-half Johnathan Sexton were just enough to sink last year’s Premiership runners-up, Alex came out with his growing reputation yet further enhanced.

Starting out with Cambridge Rugby Club at around six years old, the elder brother’s early years in rugby, for a player of decent talent, were entirely conventional. As he speaks unassumingly, it becomes apparent that Jamie’s beginnings were almost identical to those of his brother, who now stands as one of England’s most exciting young prospects. “I played rugby at school, exactly the same as Alex, and went on to represent Eastern Counties, London South East and Saracens Academy.”

Though both Goodes operate primarily at stand-off, with Alex also utilised prominently at full-back over the past couple of seasons, that is where the similarities, quite literally, diverge.

As Jamie explains the origins of how he has combined two key passions in his life, the oval ball game and African culture, his modest tone would lead one to believe that his subsequent adventures seem to have inevitable products of curiosity. I’ll leave you to dispel that notion for yourself.�����

“My mum taught French and always encouraged us to travel,” he continues.� “On my gap year between A-levels and University I went over to west Africa to work for a small NGO and actually ended up playing for the Mali national team against the military. After that I just wanted to return.”

At every turn, Jamie’s account churns out fascinating anecdotes. During a degree in Economic Development at Bath, where he naturally turned out for both the University 1st XV as well as training with the West Country club’s Academy side, he predictably turned back to his beloved continent.

“Whilst studying, I made a documentary on Nigeria after being granted some funding by the Commonwealth and since then I have just kept going back. I worked in the Foreign Office there for a year before graduating, focussing mainly on economic and international affairs. I just really like that part of the world and the way that rugby works out there, which is tough because of the conditions, it’s just incredible”

Over the past two years, Jamie has divided his time evenly between England and Nigeria, where he represented the Cowrie club in their victorious 2010 Lagos Rugby League campaign. Not content with dividing his time between scrum-half and fly-half, Jamie also helped coach and even gave advice to budding referees. According to him though, the endless “disputes” among local players regarding the breakdown made this a necessity, rather than a desire.

Boundless enthusiasm is a stonewall pre-requisite for a man who is willing to take on these responsibilities and when Jamie turns to the on-field future of Nigerian rugby, his credentials are plainly obvious.

Without prompting, he pinpoints the athletic raw materials that his adopted nation will be able to organically produce, calling to mind the heritage of some of today’s most exciting performers. Sighting Mark Odejobi of Wasps, Topsy Ojo of London Irish and Ayoola Erinle, who was a constant threat in Premiership midfields over the last decade, Jamie is certain that he is part of something that could cause a stir.

“Most of these guys are backs or back-rowers of course but going a little further back there is Victor Ubogu, who is of Nigerian background. If you have a look at these guys they are a great shape for rugby, thick set and quick. Fitness may be a real issue but speed over a hundred metres is really good.”

Joseph Mbu, the Nigerian winger who graced the Guinness Premiership with Bath, Harlequins and Wasps before a spell in French Top 14 with Pau and Dax has now joined the coaching set-up too, an encouraging sign of intent.

With the side currently banned by the International Rugby Board, there is still a great deal of work to be done before Nigeria become a force, or even a presence, on the Test match scene. At the moment, the set-up is ranked at ninety-first in the world according to the IRB, in-between Bulgaria and Monaco. The only way is up.

Such a lowly position is partly down to the lack of co-operation between two rival bodies that are vying for the right to establish an association in the country in the same mould as England’s Rugby Football Union. If an amiable middle ground is found between Friends of Rugby, who administer the Lagos League, and the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, then developments should move along swiftly. Surely, few would turn their nose up at the tasty prospect of a West African derby with Cameroon, currently ranked seventy-ninth in the global ladder.

Fortunately, Jamie’s zest towards the cause has not corrupted his awareness that there is a great distance to go. However, the ongoing issues that are stalling participation at a national level are doubtlessly a source of frustration. “The failure for the NRFF and Friends of Rugby to combine is a real shame,” Jamie explains. “It’s been very inefficient. There are some good players out there who would love to represent their country but the bosses cannot resolve very petty differences.”

Despite the darkness of such negotiations, there is some very promising light appearing at the end of the tunnel and when talk moves towards the future, Jamie’s gusto again pulls away. “Once a concrete Federation is set up,” he enthuses, “we will be able to compete in the Commonwealth Games and African Cup.”

Given that rugby sevens will take its Olympic bow in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, these aspirations are in no way unfounded. The strategy of developing a strong fifteen-a-side team on the basis of sevens success is a very legitimate one.

Just at the beginning of this month in Delhi, Kenya continued the groundbreaking decade they have enjoyed in the sport among the world’s elite by topping their qualifying group. Though they did not get a chance to compete for a Commonwealth medal, a 12-10 victory over Samoa will stay with them forever. Uganda did their bit to ignite the Africa imagination also, and emerged from a group including Australia and England with renewed respect, scoring five tries to soundly beat Sri Lanka. When asked about this subject, Jamie exposes the method behind the passion.

“One of the debates we are having amongst the senior players is which game we should primarily pursue and I am very much in favour of a seven-a-side focus.� Fifteens is a very complex game to pick up and you need a far greater amount of organisation and training. Sevens is free flowing and with natural attributes of speed it should be easier. It is also slightly more informal too. We can definitely aim to build our sevens game up and bring fifteens along on the back of that.”

The Cowries will be out to showcase the best of Nigerian talent in December at the Dubai sevens championships, conscious that such tournaments should prove to be the bedrock of their development. Jamie is to take a break from the Masters degree in African Political Economy that he has undertaken at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies in order to train and then travel with the squad.

As much as the determination for Nigerian rugby be acknowledged is inspiring, it is the African idiosyncrasies that make the story endearing. Jamie’s narrative of a league game for the Cowries last year is clearly evidence of this chaotic charm. “Last month,” he explains, “we won a match against the Nigerian Police Force quite easily, but they were a tough bunch. Afterwards in fact, they told us that they were going to jail us.” What sounded like the beginning of a comic yarn however, did not continue conventionally.

“Initially we thought they were joking, but it became clear that they had taken the fact that they have been beaten comfortably quite personally. They impounded our coach’s car and mayhem unravelled outside of the national stadium before everything calmed down. The things you see all the time are really crazy.”

With all of this taken into account, it seems that Jamie has found enough joy from rugby outside of the professional game. In fact, the two brothers combined this year to bring some magic to the Cowries Rugby Football Club. An accepted perk for each professional sportsman is the mountainous pile of training and playing kit that is replenished every season, and Alex Goode happened to know of a little way away from home that would be very grateful.

“He asked if the guys needed kit and I said that would be really nice. The guys know Alex and know he is doing really well and really appreciated his support. He packed his unwanted kit into two or three big bags. There were about twenty rugby shirts and shorts, socks and balls and everything.” As ever, Jamie is awake to what the future may hold. “Hopefully he can keep it coming,” he goes on. “It would be great if some sort of relationship would start developing between us and Saracens as part of their community projects.

“It’s a big country with lots of rugby players. Alex actually said as well that he had spoken to a couple of coaches and if there are guys in Nigeria who are showing a bit of talent, they are happy to take them on for a bit of coaching. Of course they understand that they may be a bit raw.”

It is a fitting end to our conversation when Jamie turns back to what has reinforced this incredible quest, the people themselves. A great deal about this tale is “raw” in rugby terms, but that is what makes it enchanting and such a feeling is not at all lost on the elder Goode.

“I’m just really happy to be involved,” he finishes. “I’m really lucky to be able to travel out there and play rugby with guys I get on with so well. They are really honest, down to earth guys who pray before and after each game. They absolutely love it.” Give Nigeria a chance on the international stage, and the rugby world can love them too.