TAKE HIM HOME, MICHAEL RHODES

When Michael Kenworthy Rhodes arrived in London in 2015 I don’t think he was really on any of our radars. Born in Durban, his father owns a fruit farm on the edge of the Kruger National Park where young Mike spent much of his time chasing off marauding elephants. His early career was in South Africa playing for Sharks, Lions and Stormers however he made the trip north at the age of 27. He hadn’t broken into the National setup in the land of his birth despite being voted most promising forward in 2014 – his only representative honour came playing for the Baa Baas in 2014 against Leicester (and scoring a try). He did have a bit of a disciplinary reputation having received a 6 week suspension for a headlock on Siale Piutua and a red card for a stamp on Jono Ross’s head.

Michael proved to be a shrewd signing for Saracens and quickly claimed the No 6 shirt for his own, forming a superb partnership initially with Jacques Burger and later with Jackson Wray and Billy Vunipola in the back row. His nickname is “Frank”. In his first season he played 27 times for Sarries, including the Premiership Final win over Exeter and Saracens’ first European Champions Cup Final victory over Racing 92 in 2016. His 1 year contract was extended and he excelled once again in the following season turning out in all but 1 of Sarries’ Premiership games, often out of position in the 2^nd row because of Sarries’ injury problems that season including Maro Itoje. He won a second Champions Cup Winner’s medal this time against Clermont in 2017. Like many of his team-mates he played the following week against Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership semi-final but another shoulder injury, sustained against Clermont, forced him off the pitch early (it’s a sign of his commitment to the club that he was prepared to turn out for them despite the injury). It turned out he had been playing for almost 4 years with a broken collar bone, originally sustained in Cape Town but misdiagnosed as a dislocation. He underwent surgery during the summer of 2017 and only returned to training a few days before the 2017-18 season began. Yet he was on the bench for Sarries’ opener against Northampton.

Despite the injury, Mike was voted Saracens’ Players’ Player of the Year 2016-17 and was shortlisted for the Premiership Player of the Year. Having lived in England for 3 years, he now qualified for his new country through residence. Eddie Jones called him up to his England Training Squad for the autumn internationals (saying perceptively “when he hurts, he hurts”). It was never Michael’s aim to play for England but he wasn’t going to say no! Sadly he was never given the opportunity to represent his adopted country with Brad Shields and Mark Wilson in the pecking order ahead of him. Michael was obviously disappointed but took it in his stride. And at least the ribbing from Schalk Brits and Vincent Koch stopped!

That season was trickier for Saracens and for Mike. Sadly his shoulder injury kept flaring up which, along with a hamstring tear, restricted his appearances however he was on the bench for Sarries’ Premiership victory over Exeter and gained his 2^nd winners medal. 2018-19 was a better season injury-wise although his disciplinary issues returned to haunt him when he was banned for 3 weeks following a dangerous tackle on Bath’s Miles Reid.

2018 also saw Mike become a “Gintrepreneur” when he teamed up with his long-term friend Pat Cilliers and renowned distiller Sion Edwards to create a new London Gin “Fines Master”- a gin described as containing the “Holy Trinity” of gins: Juniper, Coriander and Angelica blended with orange, lime and grapefruit then finished off with camomile, liquorice, orris and cassia. The bottle is covered in a “unique wrap”, gold and red stripes, designed to represent a rugby jersey. “Unwrapping a bottle of Fines Master mimics removing a rugby jersey post game and searching for the perfect G & T to kick off the festivities”. The company has a mobile Gin Bar nicknamed “the Sin Bin” which probably gives a clue as to how the spirit also received its name!

Michael played well in Sarries’ European semi-final win over Munster in 2019 but was unable to play in the final against Leinster because of a back spasm, something that continued to bother him for the rest of his career. He was on the bench for Sarries’ heroic Premiership win over Exeter.

The strange 19-20-21 seasons proved to be Mike’s last for Sarries. He was Man-of-the-Match for the delayed quarter final against Leinster where he was cited (but for once escaped a ban). Once again injury limited his appearances although he made his 100^th appearance for the Club during the Trailfinders Cup in February, but he was named in the team which beat Ealing Trailfinders and gained promotion back to the Premiership. Somehow it was almost fitting that he should receive his marching orders from Luke Pearce for a dangerous tackle in his final game.

Rhodes was popular with Saracens’ fans but his tendency to get himself in trouble with referees made him rather less popular with opposition supporters. He fell foul of Andrew Forde, a Social media influencer, who made him the subject of one of his series of YouTube films “Rugby’s Biggest Thugs”, an “honour” he shared with fellow Sarries Schalk Burger, Owen Farrell, Liam Williams & Calum Clark; Bakkies Botha, Michael Hooper and Eben Etzebeth among others so he was in good company!

It was announced that Mike would leave the Club at the end of the 20-21 season at the age of 33. Presumably his long term injuries have caught up with him. He clearly valued his 6 years in North London though. “It’s been an amazing time. On the field the club has been very successful and I’ve been part of some great times so it’s been an unbelievable experience. Rugby-wise it’s been second to none and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. There are too many people to thank but I’ve been extremely lucky to have played with such a high quality team and I’m eternally grateful for being a part of this.”

Despite winning national and international trophies with Sarries, he cited his favourite game as the away victory over Munster in Dublin in 2017. “It’s easy to highlight the finals but there have been a lot of games where we’ve been under the pump and we’ve pulled out a win just by scrapping away: those are the games that I hold dear”

Mark McCall was also very complimentary about him : “Perhaps the biggest compliment you could pay Michael Rhodes is, if you asked our players who they’d most not want to play against in our team, it would be him! The definition of physical on both sides of the ball, his relentless work rate and full throttle approach to the game have made him a central figure in all the club has achieved. Off the field, he is a devoted team-mate and family man who has time for everyone and a deep affection for the club. We wish him, Cara, Jack and Tommy well in all that lies ahead. Thanks Rhodesy.”

I have no doubt all Sarries’ fans will also wish him well and maybe raise a toast – in Fines Master Gin of course!