Sam Graham: Chef turned back rower 'living the dream' with Northampton Saints

In a former life, Sam Graham used to cook meals for the England rugby team.

Nowadays, though, instead of tasting food before serving it, he's enjoying the taste of success as a key member of the Northampton Saints team chasing what would be an amazing double.

Forward Graham says he is "living the dream" after helping to steer his club to a Champions Cup quarter-final against South African side Bulls on Saturday.

And they are also setting the pace in the Premiership, five points clear at the top of the table with four regular-season games remaining.

It was back in 2015 that Graham was working at England's Pennyhill Park hotel and he remembers clearly an evening encounter with a former Saints star.

"I met Dylan Hartley once," he told BBC Look East.

"He came into the kitchen one night looking for a knife for some sort of social activity. I didn't ask any questions. But years later he remembered me when I signed at Saints. It took me back a bit.

"Being a chef in and around that hotel was such a buzz. We sent out mountains of food for them.

"I was so impressed by how much they put away. Now I'm the one eating just as much."

Graham spent years trying to break through into professional rugby, having begun his playing career at Chippenham RFC.

He spent time with Bath's academy, then Bristol, and also had a spell playing in New Zealand for Massey RFC.

The abrasive back rower finally arrived at Saints last year after leading Doncaster Knights to a second-place finish in the Championship in 2022.

He contributed four tries in 20 appearances in his debut season and agreed a contract extension in December.

The 26-year-old is now enjoying his best year yet, starting 16 of his 20 appearances so far, including last Sunday's 24-14 win over Munster to put them into the last eight of Europe's premier cup competition.

"This has been my dream since I was six years old. I want to remember it as much as possible," he said.

"The atmosphere against Munster was unbelievable. The European music comes over the Tannoy and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

"At that moment I smiled. This is why I play the game. It was brilliant.

"It would mean everything if we could win [against Bulls] this weekend."

Saints won the first Champions Cup of the 21st century, beating Munster 9-8 at Twickenham, external.

In their current form, they may just have the right recipe to do it again.