Christian Wade hits out at rugby union
NFL hopeful Christian Wade believes the sport of rugby union is holding back its stars, a realization he made having made the transition to the glitz and the glamour of American football.
The former Wasps flyer made a major pre-season splash in 2019 for the Buffalo Bills, scoring a 65-yard touchdown with his first competitive touch of an American football.
However, things haven’t gone to plan since, with the pandemic and a poorly timed injury during the 2021 pre-season leaving his NFL career hanging by a thread. A shoulder problem has meant the 30-year-old missed the entire Buffalo Bills’ pre-season, the only time Wade had a realistic chance of making a case for his talents.
Wade hasn’t played a single regular-season down and with his player pathway allowances soon coming to an end, the Bills may well look to onboard a new running back, likely to be at least seven years his junior and with considerably more playing experience.
Put simply, unless he finds a new franchise, Wade’s NFL career appears to be coming to an end. Yet his time hasn’t been wasted and he believes his former sport can learn from the American version of the game that it spawned.
Now he has hit out at the culture of rugby in an exclusive interview with The Sun.
“I love rugby and it’s been part of my journey but at the same time it’s very far away from elite sport in the grand scheme of things,” told The Sun’s Gary Carter. “When I look back, I think, ‘There’s so much more stuff the rugby world can do to push this out there.’
“Rugby has a bigger platform than the NFL, it’s played around the world way more, but it’s almost been contained, a ‘keep rugby a secret’ type of thing.
“It’s time the rugby world opens itself up so it can grow and develop. That’s what it needs.
“Allow players to express themselves, otherwise you’re stopping people from reaching their full potential. That’s how I felt and wanting to look for more is part of the reason I left rugby.
“The NFL has opened up my eyes. There’s a lot rugby can take from the NFL and bring that life back to it again.”
Wade also thinks the game should revolve around getting England honours as much as it does.
“Rugby union as a whole shouldn’t be centred around England and, ‘You’re with England, now you can be yourself.’
“What about kids who come from school and have no way to express themselves as they’re worried about playing for England? I don’t understand what that’s about.
“You shouldn’t be made to feel a certain way as you’re driven toward England. If you don’t make it, what’s your why? I’ve seen that happen.
“I’ve seen guys I looked up to not be themselves. I was like, ‘What the hell happened?’ When you come through the system, you’re always thinking about playing for England.”
Wade now faces an anxious wait on his NFL future, be should he desire it, he could yet return to his 15-man code. With his partner based in America, such a return may be unlikely, unless he decides to try his hand in the MLR.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments