How Wales' Aaron Wainwright could have been playing League Two football this weekend at Colchester
Wales flanker Aaron Wainwright could have made it as a professional footballer had he not switched his focus to rugby, according to his former coach at Newport. Wainwright has been a World Cup sensation in Japan and will be a key figure when Wales meet South Africa in Sunday’s semi-final.
But the 22-year-old began his sporting life as a footballer, spending several years at the Cardiff academy before being offered scholarship terms at League Two club Newport, who are away to Colchester United on Saturday. “We liked what we saw, but he’d just had a knock-back at Cardiff and was doing his A Levels,” said Danny Elliott, Newport under-23s development coach.
“He was hoping to become a dentist and his father was looking at the sensible option of Aaron going to university and getting his qualifications. Rugby was in the background and he was enjoying that, but he wasn’t taking it too seriously at the time.
“We told Aaron there was an opportunity for him here, but his dad was under no illusions that football was a very hard game to get into. What happened to him at Cardiff had a huge impact on him.”
Wainwright told Rugby World this month that he was a defensive midfielder who “moulded my game on Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele”. But Elliott believes that Wainwright had more to his game than simply protecting the defence and that he possessed box-to-box qualities.
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“Physically he was built well and very athletic,” Elliott said. “He was good on the ball and had a good range of passing. He was a very powerful midfielder and similar to a player we’d had two or three years previously. He reminded me of (Wales international) Lee Evans, who is now playing in the Football League at Wigan. He could get around the pitch and get box-to-box.
“It was a shame he decided to stay at school because the current boss Michael Flynn was coming in as academy manager. He would have been great for Aaron as a central midfielder himself and taken him on further. Justin Edinburgh (then first-team manager) was also unbelievable for the young kids, and I’m sure he would have got a chance if he’d continued the progress he was making.”
'I can’t wait to face David Pocock and Michael Hooper and I’m looking forward to having a good battle with them’
– @aaronwain97 tells @OwainJTJones about his quick rise from obscurity to going into battle for @WelshRugbyUnion against @wallabies #RWC2019https://t.co/cRzqGmPh3f— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 28, 2019
Wainwright’s rapid rugby rise began at Whiteheads RFC and he played for Premiership side Newport before Guinness PRO14 outfit Dragons gave him his debut in October 2017. The following summer, Wainwright made his international debut in Argentina and he has now established himself as one of Wales’ most important players with his performances in Japan.
Wainwright capped his man-of-the-match display in the 20-19 quarter-final victory over France with his first Wales try, showing the pace of a back in a sprint to the line. “I saw that try and I thought, yes, he could make those bursts from midfield,” Elliott said.
“I think that would have taken him a long way in football but he’s shown how adaptable he is. The attitude, level-headedness and good direction that he had from his father has helped him become a success in rugby.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Warren Gatland is absolutely fine with some people writing off Wales’ chances against South Africa
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments