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Former NFL fullback set to join Premiership club

By Alex Shaw
Paul Lasike

As new Head of Rugby Paul Gustard looks to put his own stamp on the Harlequins side he inherited from John Kingston, RugbyPass understands that former NFL and Chicago Bears fullback Paul Lasike is set to join the club.

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Lasike, 28, went undrafted out of Brigham Young University, before featuring in 10 games for the Bears. He was cut in 2017, leading to a switch to rugby following the advent of the Major League Rugby competition in the US this year.

It was not a difficult switch for Lasike to make, with the New Zealand-born centre having played plenty of rugby in his youth, including turning out for Waikato’s U18 side, and he joined the newly-formed Utah Warriors for the 2018 season.

He proved to be a wrecking ball of an inside centre in the MLR and has turned out for the USA Eagles on six occasions over the last year, including a particularly impressive performance in the Eagles’ win over Scotland this summer.

The powerful ball-carrier will bolster Quins’ options at 12, where Francis Saili had an injury-plagued 2017/18 season. New arrival Ben Tapuai is another option at inside centre, but the former Bath man is also comfortable in the outside centre spot and is a different style of midfielder to the bulldozing Lasike.

Quins lacked strike runners off of the effervescent Marcus Smith last season and the addition of Lasike would certainly provide that, as well as being competition for both Saili and Tapuai.

If he can replicate his form from the MLR and international rugby in the Premiership and continue to win collisions, Lasike could be one of the spark plugs that helps Quins move back up the Gallagher Premiership table.

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 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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