Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints: Mathew Tait hopes to play his way into England contention Tait is now single-minded, distinct, articulate, sensitive, a man more at ease with himself than perhaps he ever was. He has plenty to occupy himself beyond helping Leicester to reclaim the Premiership title. He regularly flies his Cessna light aircraft out of Cranfield airfield, confident and assured, clocking up the requisite 100 hours a year needed to keep his PPL pilot's licence. He has taken on a Grand Design and there is also impending fatherhood. "Flying is a different buzz, giving me something else to focus on, and I want to go down that route after my rugby career is over," said Tait, set to follow in the vapour trails of former Leicester duo, the Underwood brothers. My wife and I bought a house which was a bit of project too. And we've got a baby on the way so that will take up a lot of time, too. I have bigger things going on now and that has helped make me more relaxed even if being a dad scares the crap out of me. I'm a bit older, a bit wiser and hopefully that shows on the field. The [Heineken Cup quarter-final] Toulon game was one of the biggest of the season yet I felt relaxed and that confidence flows into your game. Tait has been reborn at Leicester, reliable at the rear and dangerous in attack as seen in his man-of-the-match performance against Harlequins in the Premiership semi-final. He has settled at full-back after his early years as a centre or wing. On Saturday he lines up opposite Northampton's Ben Foden in the Premiership final. Foden is headed to South America with England next week on their summer tour. Tait is at home, not yet considered in the front line of English full-backs. Foden, Mike Brown, Alex Goode - there are a few good "uns in front of Tait. It appears, though, that the darker days are behind him, those long, lonely stretches nursing injury after injury, and more tellingly casting off that notion of him as not being strong enough mentally to cope with the rigours of the job. Leicester is no place for shrinking violets. Tait, 27, has been upbraided by England coaches in the past for his hangdog appearance, his shambling gait, shoulders hunched. It is probably how I have been perceived. I've been picked up for body language. It's just the way I am, always have been, good mood or bad mood, that's how I walk around, very much the same. I think that's just me. It has taken him the best part of two seasons to get himself right at Leicester. Shortly after he joined from Sale he popped his groin. Tait did not think much of it. It appeared routine. A double-adductor sheer and several setbacks later, including various needles in and around the groin area that the player describes as "flipping sore," Tait began to question himself. "If that had been the end, then yes, I would have felt unfulfilled," he said. You do wonder whether you're ever going to get another opportunity to play in games like this weekend. Are my best years still ahead of me? I'd like to hope so. I've love to play for my country again but know that I have to show the same consistency as the likes of Brown and Goode. Tait is honest to a fault. He admits to "a few shockers" this season. Yet no one is cut slack at Leicester. Tait has to perform. The No 15 shirt has been filled with some style by Geordan Murphy for many years. Director of rugby Richard Cockerill has backed him. "His catching and footwork have been really good," Cockerill said. Everyone knows how good he can be. He is now finding his rhythm. There will be many intriguing sub-plots in Saturday's narrative, the tussle of the two full-backs worthy of any billing. Tait has the chance to show that he is still a performer on the grand stage.