Johnson relishing Twickenham return as Lancashire reignite county fire

Lancashire captain Chris Johnson reflects on their return to the Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 final as well as Heath’s historic promotion to National Two North. (Photo Credit: PAC Photography)

For a player who admits he is “39 and knackered”, Chris Johnson is showing few signs of slowing down.

After helping Heath secure promotion to National Two North for the first time in the club’s history, the veteran fly-half now has the chance to cap off a memorable season by leading Lancashire out at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in Saturday’s Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 final against Cornwall.

Lancashire’s return to ‘HQ’ marks their first appearance in the showpiece event for three years and, according to Johnson, it is the product of a renewed hunger within the county set-up.

“It’s been a really good group this year,” said Johnson. “The lads have really been engaging into the process, and into county rugby again.

“Lancashire has had a lot of success over the years, and it is probably something we’ve taken for granted. Seeing Yorkshire take hold of that a little bit (reaching back-to-back finals) probably spurred us on a bit.

“It’s reignited a little bit of a fire within the team.”

After falling short of the final last season, Lancashire’s management team, led by Alex Loney and Mark Nelson, challenged themselves to raise standards both on and off the field.

🏉 “I look around the changing room when they first come for the first session. I say, for the sake of argument, someone’s got a @RugbyHoppers or @fylderugby kit bag and get hold of that kit bag, and I take it to the changing room door and put it outside the door, and… pic.twitter.com/uXJuD9yaEq

— BBC Sport Lancashire (@BBCLancsSport) June 2, 2026

Johnson believes the difference has been clear throughout this campaign.

“The boys have really bought into it this year,” he added. “They’ve made themselves available, we’ve had really good numbers at training and it’s caused the coaches some genuine selection headaches.

“Last year, it was probably more a case of seeing who was available. This year we’ve had competition for places all over the squad.”

A factor in Lancashire returning to Twickenham for the first time since 2023 has been the blend of experienced county campaigners and emerging talent.

Johnson, alongside the likes of Dan Birchall (Sale FC), Scott Rawlings (ex-Fylde) and Tom Ailes (Preston Grasshoppers), has been able to pass on his knowledge gained through multiple trips to Twickenham, while a younger generation has brought fresh energy to the squad.

“We’ve got a really good mix,” Johnson, who has won five County Championships with Lancs, added.

“You’ve got some older lads who have been around Lancashire for a long time and then some really exciting younger lads who genuinely want to represent the county and get to Twickenham.

“It doesn’t feel like a chore for them at the end of a long season. They want to be here. Guys like Owain Williams (Preston), Ashton Kasam-Sharples (Fylde) have given us that youth and enthusiasm.

“That balance of experience and youth has really pushed us on this year.”

Having played in several County Championship campaigns, Johnson has also been keen to help younger teammates navigate the unique pressures that come with knockout rugby and the aggregate-score format used in this year’s competition.

Lancs faced old foes Yorkshire and took control of the first leg with a 38-18 win at Johnson’s former home ground, Woodlands, Fylde’s home venue.

With a 20-point cushion secured, a 22-20 defeat in the second leg at Hull Ionians still saw Lancashire book their place at Twickenham.

“We’ve been in those situations before where you want to get to Twickenham so badly that you don’t manage the games [in the right way] to get there,” he said.

“First game, we wanted to be really aggressive. We wanted to go out and build a lead, but also wanted to make sure we defended really well.

“A lot of our focus was actually on defence rather than simply trying to score points.

“We wanted to have that buffer going into the second leg because we knew Yorkshire were going to improve, so I and a few of the lads passed on our experiences to the group and as a collective, we got the job done.”

Johnson marked the second leg with a try – although he is quick to joke that it was scored from “miles out” rather than the two yards it actually required – but the bigger prize was securing another trip to Twickenham at the age of 39 and as captain.

Originally involved with Yorkshire, Johnson found a home across the Pennines after being invited into the Lancashire set-up by Mark Nelson.

The move transformed his representative career.

“I owe a lot to Nelly [Mark Nelson] and I owe a lot to Lancashire,” Johnson admitted.

“When Nelly brought me across, it completely changed things for me.

“I’ve played at Twickenham so many times because of Lancashire and had opportunities that came from being involved with the county. Nelly also brought me to Fylde, which helped too.

“A few weeks before this campaign started, Nelly rang me and asked if I wanted to play. I said, ‘Look, I’m 39 and knackered. I’ve had a long season with Heath. Are you sure you want me to play?’

“He just said, ‘You’re definitely playing.’ I can’t say no to Nelly!”

While Lancashire’s return to the final is the headline act this weekend, Johnson’s season has already delivered one major achievement.

Heath’s superb promotion to National Two North – in which they won 21 of their 22 league matches in Regional 1 North East – completed a journey several years in the making and ensured the Halifax club will play at the highest level in its history next season.

“Heath is a small club, but it’s a great club,” said Johnson, who is head coach as well as the club’s fly-half.

“When I left Sale FC and I said I was going to Heath, not a lot of the [Sale] players were aware of Heath, but it’s a club built on really good people and really good foundations.

“We have got a group of players who have been around that squad for a while now. We have got lads on 300-plus caps who have been on the journey.

“When I joined in 2022, there was a great group of players who wanted to get a lot better, come to training and constantly wanted to learn, which is great for me as a head coach and a player.

“My family have been welcomed down there tremendously over the last four years. My kids love going down to the club, my partner comes down and my Dad still comes to watch. 

“It genuinely feels like a family club and it is a club, despite not having a high budget, that wants to get better all the time, both on and off the field.”

After three top-three finishes in recent seasons – finishing behind the likes of Billingham, Harrogate and Scunthorpe – Heath finally broke through this term, winning promotion thanks to a squad that Johnson says never lost sight of its goals.

“We’d come close before and probably put too much pressure on ourselves in the past, but we felt like we were ready this year,” Johnson, who finished as Regional 1 North East’s top points scorer on 293, added.

 

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“This year we focused on one game at a time, and the lads stuck to that all season.

“Once we got on a run of 14 wins in a row by Christmas, then it became tough not to think about promotion, but the lads handled it really well.”

The achievement means Heath will now compete against established National Two North clubs such as Fylde, Otley and Wharfedale.

For a club many outside Yorkshire rugby know little about, Johnson and Heath are ready to embrace the challenge.

“We’ve said we don’t just want to go up and come straight back down,” he said. 

“We’ve brought in some new players because of the success we have had and the lads, since we won promotion, have been champing at the bit .

“Little old Heath are going to be playing in National Two North against teams that they never thought they could play against. It is amazing for us to get here.

“We’ve got some hidden talent in the team. The pitch is also quite small so we are going to make it as horrible as we can for teams that come down here!

“I have already been telling all the Lancs guys that no one is going to like coming down to the club! We will be making it as hostile as we can!

“We know how difficult the league is going to be, but we’re going to give it everything.”

First, however, comes one final assignment for 2025/26.

Standing in Lancashire’s way at Twickenham on Saturday are Cornwall, a county Johnson knows well from previous finals – including a 19-8 victory back in 2017. 

He also recalls Lancashire’s 35-26 win in 2013, a memorable occasion played in front of a crowd of around 20,000, with the Cornwall fans travelling in huge numbers to support their side.

“They always bring a massive crowd and that makes it a brilliant occasion,” Johnson said. “I think they had around 2,500 for their first leg (a 73-14 win over Kent at Camborne’s Recreation Ground) this season.

“They’ve got a quality team. We are hoping to repeat previous wins [against them] but we know it is going to be a massive test.”

Cornwall arrive at Twickenham with a squad brimming with quality, spearheaded by a strong Camborne contingent fresh from winning the National Two West title, including brothers Josh and county captain Sam Matavasi.

But Lancashire are determined to ensure their own journey does not end one game short of glory.

“Well, I have been in the gym trying to get ready to tackle one or both of the Matavasi brothers coming down my channel!” Johnson jokes. “I will need the back-row and centres to help me out!

 

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“They [Cornwall] are going to have an excellent forward pack with Herbie Stupple (Camborne) off the base of that scrum, but we’ve been really good defensively, and we’re not going there just to make up the numbers.

“We want to attack and take the game to them and make them react to us rather than the other way around.”

Whatever happens at Twickenham, Johnson’s season will already go down as one of the most memorable in his storied career.

Yet the prospect of captaining Lancashire to County Championship glory, alongside helping Heath secure a historic promotion to National Two North, would rank among his top achievements.

“Playing at Twickenham at 39 wasn’t on the bingo card a few years ago,” he said. “I didn’t really play [for Lancashire] for a couple of years, so I did think the Lancs stuff was over, but for Nelly to come back in and say he wanted me to captain the team was special.

“I absolutely love playing rugby. My body doesn’t like it so much, but I love it!

“You’ll see me in National Two North next season. I need four more games to reach 100 games for Heath and six more points to get to 1,000, so I will definitely do that!

“With Heath getting into National Two is an unbelievable achievement, and definitely ranking up there.

“And if we could win with Lancashire? I’d definitely be more hungover than I should be on Sunday!”

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