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L'ex Wallaby Jordan Petaia décroche un contrat en NFL

Jordan Petaia sous le maillot des Reds avant le match de la huitième journée du Super Rugby Pacific entre Moana Pasifika et les Queensland Reds au Apia Park National Stadium, le 14 avril 2023, à Apia, Samoa. (Photo Joe Allison/Getty Images)

L’ancien joueur des Queensland Reds et des Wallabies Jordan Petaia a franchi une étape majeure vers une carrière en NFL en signant mercredi soir avec les Los Angeles Chargers, dans le cadre du programme de formation International Player Pathway (IPP) de la ligue américaine.

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Après dix semaines passées à la célèbre IMG Academy en Floride, Petaia a été testé lors d’une journée de détection à l’Université de Floride du Sud la semaine dernière. Des sources en ligne révèlent que le Wallaby, 31 sélections, a couru le 40-yard dash (36,5 m départ arrêté) en 4,58 secondes et réalisé un saut vertical de 40,5 pouces (103 cm).

Selon le Daily Telegraph australien, les géants de la NFL que sont les Kansas City Chiefs, les Miami Dolphins et les Atlanta Falcons ont également été impressionnés par Petaia lors de l’essai du 26 mars. Cependant, c’est finalement avec les Chargers que l’Australien a signé, en tant que tight end, un poste hybride où le joueur est chargé de bloquer les adversaires et de recevoir les passes du quarterback.

Petaia a « toujours envisagé tenté sa chance en NFL »

Petaia est la dernière star en date issue du rugby à XV à tenter sa chance en NFL via le prestigieux programme de formation IPP. Le Gallois Louis Rees-Zammit avait initialement signé un contrat de trois ans avec les Chiefs avant de décrocher plus récemment une place dans l’effectif actif des Jacksonville Jaguars.

Le 2 décembre, Petaia a officiellement quitté le rugby à XV pour se lancer dans l’aventure NFL. Il a bénéficié du soutien total des Reds, qui ont annoncé la nouvelle dans un communiqué, quelques semaines après que le joueur de 25 ans a été écarté de leur effectif pour la saison 2025 de Super Rugby Pacific.

« J’ai toujours suivi la NFL depuis que je suis enfant. Tenter ma chance dans le football américain est quelque chose que j’ai toujours envisagé. Je m’en voudrais de ne pas tenter ma chance, car je ne veux pas avoir de regrets », a expliqué Petaia.

Tout en ajoutant qu’« il n’y a aucune garantie. C’est une occasion de m’entraîner et d’apprendre ce sport pendant plusieurs mois, et de montrer mon potentiel. »

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Jordan Petaia a participé aux Coupes du Monde 2019 et 2023 avec les Wallabies, devenant le plus jeune Australien à participer à l’événement, à l’âge de 18 ans.

Capable d’évoluer à l’aile, au centre ou à l’arrière, le joueur a disputé 31 matchs avec les Wallabies et effectué plus de 55 apparitions pour les Reds. Les blessures ont toutefois marqué la carrière de Petaia, qui n’a joué que six matchs pour les Reds en 2024.

Cet article a été publié en anglais sur RugbyPass.com et adapté en français par Jérémy Fahner.

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Flankly 29 minutes ago
Late Makazole Mapimpi try earns the Sharks win away to Edinburgh

Jake White described this as the strongest Sharks lineup ever. There is no doubt that it is at least an impressive roster. They did win, which is obviously an achievement against a good Edinburgh side. However …


For much of the first half Edinburgh seemed easily able to create 2 on 1 opportunities on both wings, with the defensive wingers biting in on the inside runner and cover defence being AWOL. Conversely the Sharks showed little ability to get behind the Edinburgh defensive line, with the sole exception of a nicely-exploited Am mismatch against a second row (which led to the Fassi try).


In general the Sharks, with their full complement of Bok firepower, do not look that dangerous in attack, and while tackling was good on the whole and goal line defence was impressive at times, they were exhibiting surprising breakdowns in open play defensive structures.


Also, the Sharks continue to be inaccurate, with material impact on the scoreboard. Missing two very kickable penalties is not the way to be the best. It looked to me like the Sharks contestable kicks were not well enough executed, and were too hard to recover.


Not sure what the running attack was trying to do, but my guess is that they were trying to pull off a Harlequins-style bash-and-offload game off of 12 (Esterhuizen). That’s not a terrible idea with the personnel available, but it would require creativity and a precision on second phase that was not in evidence.


Lastly, you have to have better discipline. It’s great that the team can cope with a 13 vs 14 period (of almost 10 minutes), but smart teams a avoid cards.


Having said that it was great to see the win. I thought that Edinburgh were cynical and niggly. Always hanging around on the wrong side of the breakdown, lots of intentional obstruction, illegal dummying at the base of the ruck, etc. They played a dirty game and the ref tolerated it. Always good to see that not succeed.


Overall the “best Sharks lineup ever” scraped the win, but under-performed their Bok-laden potential. Again.

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