Player Profile: Ben Foden

Height: 1.83m (6′ 0”)

Weight: 85kg (13st 5 lbs)

Date of Birth: 22nd July 1985

Birthplace: Chester, England

Ben Foden is widely regarded as one of the best up-and-coming scrum-halves in the country, and is one of England’s brightest young talents. His rugby career to date has been plagued by an inconsistent positioning selection, but he has decided that the nine shirt should be his, and it won’t be long before he is challenging Harry Ellis and Danny Care for international honours.

Sale Sharks coach Philippe Saint-André saw him primarily as a full-back, commenting after a strong performance from Foden against Newcastle Falcons, “If he’s not a full-back I’ll eat my French beret; at full-back for England there is not a lot of competition. I think he deserves to go on tour with England—at full-back.”

Despite these ringing words of endorsement from his coach, Foden’s desire to play scrum-half saw him sign for Northampton Saints on the basis of a promise to play him at his preferred position; a promise that Sale Sharks could not give him considering his fantastic performances at full-back, the presence of England international scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth and the arrival of Welsh international Dwayne Peel.

Nevertheless, Foden’s reputation as a hugely talented rugby player is not in doubt and certainly has not hindered his development. He made 45 appearances for Sale Sharks between 2004 and the end of the 2007-08 season and this total was hindered by the small matter of representing the England Sevens team for the past two seasons.

However, despite the debate surrounding his best position, and his time away with England, Foden still managed to rack up European appearances in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup (which he helped Sale win in 2005), as well as securing a Premiership winners medal in the 2005-06 season.

Despite Foden’s bit part role at Sale last season, he still secured a place in the England Saxons Churchill Cup touring squad to America and Canada in the summer of 2008, and he has also been named in the England Saxons squad for this season.

Foden’s first season at Northampton will be pivotal to his future rugby career. His first season solely at scrum-half, his first proper crack at the Premiership—can he deliver on all the hype?

Early season performances suggest that perhaps he can, and if neither Care nor Ellis can deliver this autumn, Foden will be knocking on Martin Johnson’s door during the Six Nations.