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The obvious question Henry Arundell hat-trick raises
Racing 92 debutant Henry Arundell has left England rugby fans contemplating what might have been after securing a hat-trick of tries against Toulon at Stade Mayol over the weekend.
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It took the emerging star just 36 minutes to score his first try and it was followed by two more before the 80 minutes were up.
The talented winger’s journey to the Parisian club followed London Irish’s administration filing in June, necessitating a change in scenery for the rising star.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby uphold a stringent rule requiring England players to ply their trade in the Premiership. In a rare departure from this norm, Arundell was granted “special circumstances” to maintain eligibility for the upcoming 2024 Six Nations due to the abrupt shift in his playing environment.
All three of Henry Arundell’s tries in his Racing 92 debut last night ??
He has just turned 21-years-old. #TOP14 pic.twitter.com/fNWENfAEks
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) November 13, 2023
Arundell’s exceptional performance against Toulon, marked by a signature weaving run through the opposition’s defense for his initial try, further underscores what impact he may have had for England at the Rugby World Cup.
The speedster was limited to just two games across the tournament, despite the mediocre form of ageing teammate Jonny May. Despite the limited opportunities he already has seven tries in just 10 appearances for England, including a remarkable five on his World Cup debut against Chile.
He didn’t play again until the third-place play-off victory over Argentina, with rumours that a row with England captain Owen Farrell rumoured to have hurt his selection chances with Steve Borthwick.
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Opta Johnny wrote on X: “Henry Arundell scored the first hat-trick of this season’s TOP 14 versus Toulon, making him the first England player to score three plus tries in a Top 14 match since Chris Ashton in March 2018 – he has now scored eight tries in his last three starts for club and country.”
3 – @racing92’s Henry Arundell scored the first hat-trick of this season’s TOP 14 v Toulon, making him the first @EnglandRugby player to score 3+ tries in a #T14 match since Chris Ashton in March 2018 – he has now scored 8 tries in his last 3 starts for club & country. Treble. pic.twitter.com/o73nh2q4XZ
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) November 13, 2023
Andy Goode wrote: “Henry Arundell scores a hat trick for Racing 92 against Toulon tonight on debut. Amazing what happens when you give talent a chance and the ball!”
Henry Arundell scores a hat trick for @racing92 against @RCTofficiel tonight on debut. Amazing what happens when you give talent a chance and the ball! ?
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) November 12, 2023
Arundell played for the London Irish academy during the initial phase of his career before making his senior debut for London Irish in the Premiership in 2021 at the age of just 19.
Arundell’s talent is such a blindingly obvious one that many England fans have been left wondering what it is he needs to do to lock down a permanent place on Borthwick’s starting team. One might expect that even a coach as conservative as Borthwick will be forced into starting the winger.
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Comments on RugbyPass
*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
226 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
226 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
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