SOUTHEND Saxons scrum-half Tom Taylor is relishing the resurrection of his rugby career.

The 28-year-old had played just four games in two years before teaming up with Southend in National Two South in November.

And he is loving being back in action on a more regular basis.

“I had really missed playing if I’m honest,” said Taylor, who is head of rugby at Chelmsford’s New Hall School.

“I moved to Essex in 2012 and I played for a bit at Chelmsford which was great fun.

“But as I was just starting my career my focus was mainly on that and not my own rugby.

“Since I joined New Hall I had played just four games in two years before making my first start against Clifton.”

Taylor suffered a 51-18 defeat on his debut but has won all three of the matches he has started since then.

Signing for Southend also see him line up alongside David Jackson, who also played with at Haywards Heath.

And it was that friendship which led to Taylor teaming up with Saxons.

“After I saw David was at Southend I got in contact with him and it all went from there,” said Taylor.

“My dad also really urged me to get playing again and, when David recommended Southend so highly, I decided to give it a go and I’m really enjoying it.”

The switch has also Taylor playing at the highest level of his career.

But he knows it will take time to fully adjust to the step up in standard.

“The pace of the game at this level has been something I have had to get used to quickly,” said Taylor.

“I still am fairly unfit and still feel a bit out of touch but it's great to be playing again.

“Chris Green (Southend’s director of rugby) has been great being so flexible with my work commitments and it's a strong dressing room to be in.

“They have made me feel very welcome.”

Southend have now won their last two games but were unable to make it three in a row on Saturday when their clash at Dorking was called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

That saw them drop to 13th in the standings but, having beaten league leaders Henley in their last outing, Taylor is confident Saxons can soon surge up the table.

“The Henley game was huge for the whole club,” said Taylor.

“You could see that it meant a lot by the celebrations at the end of the game. We have always said January is a tough month for us and to start off with two wins is really important.

“We proved to ourselves against Henley that we can compete with the top teams and we have to carry our momentum in to Saturday’s game against Chinnor.”