Rejuvenated Grayson ready to lead Saints' final charge

Paul Grayson returns to Twickenham on Saturday determined to banish the thoughts of retirement which filled his mind 12 months ago.

Grayson has had plenty else to worry about recently with the pregnancy of his wife. But Emma gave birth to twins yesterday and while Grayson's immediate concern will be with Joel and Ethan, who are both reported to be "fit and healthy", the former England fly-half will now be able to spearhead Northampton's attempt to win only their second trophy in more than 100 years.

Grayson will have little time to analyse Saturday's opponents, London Irish, before he links up with his team-mates tomorrow ahead of the trip to Twickenham. But in more ways than one, 2002 is shaping up to be the perfect year, particularly as he thought his next career move might involve hanging up his boots. "I did some coaching work on the England tour last summer, and as soon as that happens people don't think it is going to be long before you drop over the edge," he said. "If you hear someone telling you something for long enough, you start to get brainwashed by it and I was starting to believe the people who were saying I should pack it in. At the start of this season I was third choice fly-half. Now I am about to sign a new two-year contract and the catalyst for that was Wayne Smith."

Smith has transformed Northampton's fortunes since taking over the head coaching duties from the director of rugby, John Steele, after Smith was controversially fired as All Black coach last summer. To a man, the Saints squad have welcomed Smith's input and from spending much of the season languishing in the wrong half of the table, the club are now chasing a Heineken Cup berth and start Saturday's match as favourites, even though their opponents currently sit second in the Zurich Premiership table.

Things are looking up on the financial side too, with Northampton signing a three-year shirt sponsorship deal.

"Wayne has made an amazing difference in a relatively short period of time," Grayson admitted. "He has certainly pushed the right buttons as far as I am concerned. He tells you what he wants and afterwards he lets you know whether he was happy or not. I have always responded to being given direction and in that sense Wayne has been a joy to work with."

After startling some of his senior players by dropping them from some of the early matches of his reign, Smith has elected to stick with experience for Saturday's match. His starting line-up contains just one uncapped player in the No 8 Grant Seely and includes the South African lock Johan Ackermann, who returns from a shoulder injury at the expense of Jon Phillips.

"Jon has worked so hard every day," Smith said. "He is the fittest man in the squad and has an international-class heart. But Johan is an international with great heart as well who has slightly better skills."

Saturday will be Saints' third domestic cup final, and the previous two have ended in defeat. Particularly galling was the reverse at the hands of Wasps two years ago, when Northampton were in line for the treble but were ground down by a backlog of fixtures.

They eventually broke their trophy duck by beating Munster in the Heineken Cup final, with Grayson playing a major role by landing a series of last-gasp penalties. And, despite his domestic distractions, the 30-year-old is confident his nerve will hold this weekend should similar heroics be required.

"Looking at the styles of the teams, Saturday's game should be about tries," Grayson said. "If it comes down to taking a last-minute kick, I will do what I normally do – cross my fingers, shut my eyes and hope."