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'He has got such X-factor... when he has a seven out of ten he is not happy with that'
Wasps boss Lee Blackett has described his excitement that Alfie Barbeary, the 20-year-old described in some quarters as England’s best young prospect, is back in harness as the 2020/21 season steps up in pace with this Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 match versus Clermont.
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The Coventry-based club have been enduring a difficult run of results in the Gallagher Premiership, winning just two of their last nine matches and looking increasingly likely to fall short of repeating last season’s progress to the Twickenham final of the tournament.
However, they have seen a number of players marked absent for many of those losses become available in recent weeks, among them the youthful Barbeary who was voted the Premiership player of the month for December before suffering a syndesmosis ankle injury that required surgery.
Barbeary, who began December by being called into Eddie Jones’ England squad the week of the Autumn Nations Cup final, stepped off the bench to significantly help Wasps during the come-from-behind win at Newcastle on March 19 and he made his first start in 13 weeks last Saturday at home to Sale.
The result – another Wasps loss – wasn’t kind and Blackett is hoping that Barbeary, who has scored five tries in eleven Premiership career appearances, can now take his frustrations out on French side Clermont when they visit the Ricoh.
An appearance for Tonga ?? at an Olympics 7s qualifier in June on the same weekend as the Premiership semi-finals could open the door to World Cup 2023 in France #GallagherPrem #Tokyo2020https://t.co/zc78U9zjNG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2021
“I thought he was really, really good,” said Blackett about how Barbeary fared in his 34-minute comeback at Kingston Park as a sub for Sione Vailanu. “When he came on against Newcastle I thought he was almost game-changing for us. He had a really good game.
“Probably wasn’t as busy as he would like to have been at the weekend against Sale but he is showing signs in training. One thing with Alfie, the difference you need to see in games is where he really comes alive, that competitive edge he has gets out there. He was pretty frustrated last week.
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“He is used to starring every single week so when he has a seven out of ten he is not happy with that. Alfie wants to be running through people, smashing people. That is what he prides himself on and he is getting back. I was really, really pleased with him against Newcastle. He was a game-changer for us and he was one of the people who got us a result up there. So I have been pretty pleased with how he has come back.”
Barbeary, who grew up idolising Manu Tuilagi, came through the ranks as a hooker, representing England at U20s. However, his involvement with Wasps has been in the back row and it is in that sector where Blackett believes the forward will spend the next while developing rather than in the front row.
“I think at this moment in time we feel he is not ready there. The problem is if a couple of parts of his game are off at hooker he is probably not going to be on the field whereas as you have seen at this moment of time he has got such X-factor we just want him on the field playing for us and he is desperate.
“He is someone who probably doesn’t enjoy training that much but he loves being on the rugby field, he just wants to play rugby. He just wants to get out there and he is absolutely desperate to be out there so, at this moment of time, he is working on all the other stuff, we’re working pretty hard with him on the other stuff but at the moment for selection for Wasps we are thinking of him as a back row.”
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It's been a crazy long wait in between starts for the fully fit Odogwu #SixNations #ChampionsCup
https://t.co/wMazUClg97— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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.
10 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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 commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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