Diggin delighted at becoming a centurion

Paul Diggin is on the verge of a major milestone in his Northampton Saints career.

A little over seven years after making his first team debut against Sale Sharks, the Northampton-born-and-bred winger will move into three figures when he runs out with his team mates at Sixways.

Diggin, who has spent his entire professional career at Franklin’s Gardens, has scored 43 tries in his 99 appearances to date, including five this season and one in the Saints’ last domestic cup final, against Exeter Chiefs in 2008. And he is proud to reach the landmark at his hometown club.

“It’s a great achievement and something that means a lot to me,” Diggin said.

“Sometimes I didn’t think I’d get to a hundred because there have been some great players at the club but it’s nice to get there.

“Highlights include beating Biarritz in San Sebastian, getting back in the Premiership, my debut at Sale and the Challenge Cup. I’ve also scored a few tries, but they all come from the hard work of the other players and being in the right place at the right time!”

Diggin is also delighted that his hundredth appearance will come in a cup final when the Saints go head-to-head with Gloucester in the race to lift the LV= Cup.

“It’s great for the fans to get to a cup final,” he added.

“It’s our second cup final in two years so hopefully when it counts we can get the result.

“Gloucester are one of the form teams at the moment. They play some attractive rugby, Simpson-Daniel’s scoring tries for fun and Vainikolo’s getting back to his best. They’ve got some good heads in the pack as well and they’re going to want to win this.

“We want to win this as well. It’s our first chance of silverware this season, we’ve got ourselves in this position and hopefully we can carry our form from last weekend into this game.”