Danny goes from boy to man as he gets set to make his mark at Saints

But although he achieved that aim during his first spell at Franklin’s Gardens, it wasn’t quite the fairy-tale story he had hoped for.

Hobbs-Awoyemi only made four appearances, all of which came from the bench, before departing in search of regular game time in the summer of 2016.

An opportunity arose at London Irish, who were heading for the Championship, and the loosehead prop grabbed it with both hands.

While he had been forced to watch on as the likes of Soane Tonga’uiha, Alex Corbisiero and the Waller brothers strutted their stuff at Saints, here was Hobbs-Awoyemi’s chance to make his own mark in the game.

And that is something he has done during the past four years, propelling Irish back into the big time while also starting to realise some of the obvious potential he possessed when progressing through Saints’ Academy structure.

Hobbs-Awoyemi was, after all, a Junior World Championship winner with England Under-20s.

The pedigree was there, he just needed the chance to prove it.

And now, after forging a first-team career for himself and becoming a father in the process, Hobbs-Awoyemi is back at Saints, leaving as a boy but returning as a man.

“I found out (about the move) a couple of months ago and I was buzzing,” said the 26-year-old, who racked up 50 appearances for London Irish, scoring four tries.

“My agent rang me and told me it was potentially going to happen and I got excited straight away.

“I couldn’t wait to get the deal done and confirm it.

“I couldn’t wait to get back here and it’s nice to be back in Northampton because I know a lot of people and it’s the club I wanted to play for when I was younger.”

Hobbs-Awoyemi has kept his Northampton connection in recent years.

He explained: “I moved to London for two years but my Mrs got pregnant while we were in London so we actually ended up buying a house back in Kingsthorpe.

“We’ve moved back here and I was spending three nights in London and four nights here.

“Tom Collins is one of my best mates and the likes of Reece (Marshall) and Luds (Lewis Ludlam).

“I’ve seen Tom and Reece over the time I’ve been away anyway and kept in contact so it’s a bit strange being back but it’s nice as well.”

Hobbs-Awoyemi has watched on as his Saints Academy mates have developed under the coaching of Chris Boyd and Co.

And now he hopes those mentors will be able to have a similar effect on his game.

“Coming back, I’ve seen a lot of the lads receive honours and since Chris Boyd has come in it seems like a lot of them have improved massively,” Hobbs-Awoyemi said.

“I’m hoping having that coaching around me I can improve as much as the likes of Reece has, if not more.

“The coaching has changed a fair bit but the setup hasn’t changed so much.

“The physio room and the gym and things like that are all in the same place.

“It’s a bit odd being back in and doing social distancing but apart from that, it all seems quite normal and I’m going well so far.

“It’s nice to come back in and get back into a routine of training after a few months off.

“There are a lot of familiar faces for me walking back in and I probably know 50 per cent of the people still so it’s nice to get back to that.”

So how about that first spell at Saints?

Why did Hobbs-Awoyemi not get the breakthrough he wanted and did he really see himself ever returning to the club he left in 2016?

“I wasn’t too sure I’d come back,” he said. “I didn’t have too much in mind, I was going to get the opportunity to play regular first-team rugby.

“I had been at Saints since I was 14 in the Academy so I was excited for a bit of a change and the prospect of playing and starting afresh and seeing if I could make it somewhere else.

“I got first-team rugby action and that was important to me.

“There was a slight bit of frustration before I left because there were a few times I felt I could have been picked when there were niggles and things going on but it didn’t quite happen.

“It came round to having the opportunity at Irish where I knew I could be in the first team and get some game time and I just thought ‘I just want to play and get some experience’.

“I thought it was the best move for me at the time.”

Though Hobbs-Awoyemi was always highly-rated at Saints, he always had so much competition and he couldn’t force his way up a talented pecking order.

“We always had a big list of players in front of me at Saints,” he said.

“We had people like Campese Ma’afu at the time and before that Alex Corbisiero and Soane Tonga’uiha.

“Alex Waller went through a stage of playing more than 100 games straight and I just thought I wanted to play first-team rugby and enjoy it. That’s what made the move happen.”

But that’s all in the past now.

Hobbs-Awoyemi comes back to Saints with experience under his belt, confidence in his mind and passion for the club in his heart.

“I think I’ve changed quite a bit since I left,” he said.

“I’ve got a lot more first-team experience and a lot more confidence.

“As a player, I think I’ve come on quite a lot, matured a lot more in body and in mind in the way I’m playing.

“It will help me getting back into the swing of things because before I left I was basically an Academy player but now it will be nice to be different.

“I think I’ll have a lot more confidence and more of a role.

“I feel like I’ve developed a lot at scrum time and around the park I pride myself on being a good attacking ball player and I can get into the mold of the exciting rugby Saints play.”

So does he have a point to prove during his second coming at Saints?

“You always want to prove to yourself that you can make it and be the player you want to be,” he said.

“If you don’t want to be the best, you should be doing something else and you always want to be the best player you can be.”

In a recent interview with this publication, Hobbs-Awoyemi’s former London Irish team-mate Gordon Reid, released by Saints this summer, tipped the new signing to play for England one day.

And Hobbs-Awoyemi, who showcased his talents at international level with England Under-20s in 2013 and 2014, winning back-to-back Junior World Championship titles, said: “It’s a definite aspiration of mine.

“I was part of that Junior World Championship team and it was good fun.

“I kind of hit a stalemate after that and had a year of not much happening so I needed to move to play more elsewhere.

“You’ve always got pressure on yourself.

“The Academy always have high hopes that you can make it into the first team and be a big player.”

As well as familiar faces behind the scenes and in the playing squad, Hobbs-Awoyemi also knows plenty about Saints’ current coaches.

He worked with scrum guru Matt Ferguson at London Irish, while current forwards coach Phil Dowson was a player at Saints during Hobbs-Awoyemi’s time at the club.

And he said: “I like Matt, I liked him when he was at Irish and it was a shame he left.

“I get on with him well, he’s a great guy to chat to and get knowledge from and any issue you have, he helps you through it.

“He helps you to improve and be the best.

“As for Dows, he is good.

“We haven’t done too much forwards work yet due to social-distancing but I chat to him a lot and he pushes me through each session.

“I’m really looking forward to getting more coaching from him.”

Hobbs-Awoyemi won’t get an immediate chance to run out in front of a full house at Franklin’s Gardens because the action is set to resume behind closed doors next month.

But that certainly won’t dampen the excitement for the returning prop as he prepares to make his big Saints comeback.

“It’s very exciting,” he said.

“This is what I dreamed of as a kid: to be playing for Saints so I can’t wait for games to start back up.

“It’s been a long time and hopefully we can finish off the season with some silverware as well.

“That would be brilliant.”