Vickers out to show Saints what they're missing
Former Saint Jon Vickers is desperate to get one over his old club when Exeter visit Franklin's Gardens next season.
After coming through the Saints Academy as a versatile forward, playing across the front-row, Vickers moved to newly-promoted Exeter Chiefs last month.
Exeter see Vickers as a hooker and the 21-year-old, who made four appearances for Saints after making his senior debut in October 2008 against Bristol in the EDF Energy Cup, is determined to get himself in the Chiefs starting line-up for his return to the Saints this season.
Saints take on Exeter for the first time in the Premiership at the Gardens on October 2, and Vickers has the date heavily underlined in his diary.
Vickers said: "That's definitely a game I want to be involved in. Northampton are on the up and I'm sure they'll be looking to build on what they did last season, but it's definitely a game we'll want to target, it would be great to win that one."
And Vickers believes the facilities at Sandy Park are as good as those he left behind in Northampton.
"The set-up here is very similar," said Vickers. "Northampton have got a good reputation for their conditioning and facilities and, from what I've seen, Exeter are definitely on a par with that.
"Exeter are an ambitious club, they gave me the opportunity to come down here and it was an easy decision to join."
Vickers' four appearances for Saints came as a prop and he played ostensibly there for the Wanderers, so he is putting in extra lineout throwing practice this summer to get ready as a hooker.
"I've got a lot of hard work to do to concentrate on one position and I'll be working incredibly hard on my throwing," said Vickers, who has former Saints Academy coach Ali Hepher working with him at Exeter.
"Understanding what you want from your hooker, as a prop, will bode well for me as a hooker. We're not targeting any games, we want to be winning as we can, but it's about performance and if you get that right the results will follow."
Meanwhile, scrum-half John Brake, who was released by Saints at the end of last season, has been included in the England Sevens training squad for October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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