By Jason Harris
July 2 2002

Tony Roques, the 24 year old flanker, has signed a two year extension to his Saracens contract keeping him at the club which signed him as a teenager. Known as the "Machine" by the other Saracens players due to his hard training, Roques is looking forward to playing once again with the Men in Black and with new coach Wayne Shelford.

"I am relieved to have signed this contract and am very glad to have been given this opportunity to keep playing with Saracens. Playing under Buck [Shelford] is exciting; he's solely focused on the playing side of things and I'm sure that he will help improve my game no end." said Roques on the official press release.

Shelford is impressed with the player's fitness, but thinks that the best is yet to come from the England 7s star.

"Tony has done exceedingly well of late, with the club and with the England Sevens team, he's a young guy who is very physical. Tony's a little naive in some areas of the game, but there is no doubt that with the new guys coming into the squad will help him improve his game no end, particularly with his hunting of the ball."

Never one to give up on lost causes, Roques knows that his place in the Sarries back row must be earned, even though he was the top tackler in the Zurich Premiership last season. He is also ever-mindful of mistakes costing his team games, especially in 7s, and thinks that Saracens have not yet played to their potential.

"If we play like we can and lose that's fair enough," he said, "but to play badly and lose, that's never a good thing. However with the various new signings and the young guys coming through, all is looking good for 2002/03."