Loyalty of Jackson is a beacon for rugby

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST

- CHRIS HEWETT

Jackson Wray has just agreed fresh terms with Saracens – the clearest possible signal that the most criminally under-celebrated forward in the entire country intends to stay with the shopsoiled champions until they carry him out of the dressing-room door in a box.

Can we get away with calling it a Wray of sunshine in a dark place? It is easy to think of one individual with the same surname who would agree with the sentiment.

Bog-standard contract extensions are seldom worthy of special mention, but one-club men like Wray are not only the heartbeat of club rugby, but also the artery through which the lifeblood flows. As such, due attention should be paid.

No one in possession of their full range of faculties would question the commitment of Owen Farrell or Jamie George to the Saracens project, but when the headline acts are off doing other things in the white shirts of England or the red ones of the Lions, it is the supporting cast who take the load. Wray shoulders as much of that burden as anyone and far more than most. He is an absolute star.

Professional players switch employers far more often than their amateur forerunners did, to the point where it has become a habit rather than a necessity.

But is stickability really less of a virtue now than it was back in the day? Agents would argue that it no longer means a thing, but they would, wouldn’t they? Most of the rest of us still have a love of loyalty.