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Christian Wade scores twice in first rugby match in four years

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Christian Wade has demonstrated that he hasn’t lost the knack of scoring tries as the 31-year-old ran in two for Racing in their opening game at the In Extenso SuperSevens event in Pau. It was the ex-England international’s first rugby match in nearly four years as he made his final appearance for Wasps in October 2018 before quitting the sport for the chance to try and make it in the NFL with Buffalo Bills.

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Despite not playing rugby in all that time, the prolific Wade is still ranked as the fourth highest Premiership try-scorer of all time. His tally of 82 is just 13 tries behind Chris Ashton of Leicester who took the No1 position off Tom Varndell earlier this year.

Wade returned to England earlier this summer following the expiry of his Bills contract in America and hinted that he could make a return to rugby. The restricted Premiership market wasn’t kind at a time when budgets are squeezed due to the reduced salary cap and a concrete offer didn’t materialise.

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However, Racing offered Wade an opportunity to try out for them in this Saturday’s sevens tournament that is taking place seven days before they open their new Top 14 campaign with a home match versus Castres, the league’s 2021/22 beaten finalists.

Racing have a medical joker slot to fill for the coming months after new signing Regan Grace suffered a ruptured achilles playing rugby league for St Helens, an injury that will sideline him until early 2023.

Wade was named in a 15-strong Racing squad for the 16-team sevens tournament and he tweeted on Friday that he was hoping to make an impact. “Looking forward to making an appearance with Racing at the SuperSevens tomorrow. Let’s go have some fun,” he wrote.

That delight didn’t take long to materialise as Wade scored the second and third Racing tries in their 33-5 round of 16 win over Montpellier to earn a quarter-final versus Parisian rivals Stade later on Saturday afternoon, a derby that they won 31-21. They were knocked out in the semi-finals, however, losing 34-0 to Monaco.

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Wade spent eight and a half seasons at Wasps, making 165 appearances for the club before trying his luck in American football. Since his return to England, he has launched a series of next-gen rugby camps aimed at upskilling young players.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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