How Adam Radwan's speed compares to England's fastest players
When Adam Radwan first broke into England camp last year, training ground stories soon emerged of the blistering pace the Newcastle Falcons winger possessed.
While his athleticism has been the talk of Tyneside rugby union circles since he first signed for the Falcons in 2016, getting capped by England has brought the 23-year-old to a whole new level of public attention.
The hype around the youngster has grown exponentially, even leading some to liken him to cross-code legend, Jason Robinson. “With less room on the pitch, the old adage that there is no answer to pace is even more relevant and Adam is a supremely gifted athlete. He is a very special rugby player with that X-factor,” Nick Easter told RugbyPass recently. “Jason Robinson was very similar and while he didn’t have that [Radwan’s] out-and-out pace, his ability over the first five or ten metres was electric and even against suffocating defences he would suddenly be away, skipping past tacklers.”
Unsurprisingly, the question on many lips is how does rapid “Radders” stack up against England’s fastest. Eddie Jones’ back division are no slouches; Jonny May, Anthony Watson and newcomer Louis Lynagh can boast excellent top-end speed.
Yet surprisingly, the rapid Radwan is yet to clock himself over that traditional yardstick – the 100 metres – although, as he tells RugbyPass, he intends to.
“I get asked that a lot [his 100 metre time] but I’ve never done it, because when I was younger I wasn’t that fast. I was quick, but there was always someone in my school that was a little bit quicker.
“It wasn’t until I started going to the gym that I started getting a lot quicker.
“I’ve never done it, so I have no idea. My plan was to do it [a timed 100m] in my offseason but I went and did the summer tour so my pre-season was a little different, so I didn’t get the chance to do it but I am going to do it at some point on a track, just to see where I’m at. ”
Radwan wasn’t timed in England camp this time around but he did get GPS stats back which make him one of the fastest England players of all time.
“In the summer we didn’t do any testing stuff. Obviously, we got GPS data so the top speed I hit in a session was 10.85 metres a second.
“You’ll only hit that for like a split second. That was my max speed. That was without the ball, doing top ups.
“Everyone’s GPS is different, so I would know how that would compare to anyone else.”
In fact 10.85 mps puts him ahead of England teammates Jonny May, who clocked 10.49, and Bath’s giant winger, Joe Cokanasiga who has also clocked over 10 metres a second. It is however behind former Wasps winger Christian Wade, who went over 11 metres a second [11.1 to be exact].”
But which fellow speedsters does Radwan admire?
“Obviously [Louis Rees] Zammit is ridiculously quick as well. Every team in the league has someone who is rapid.
“I quite like a chase back,” said Radwan, when asked what the dream scenario is for him a rugby union speed merchant. “Is that better than scoring a try? Probably skinning someone [is the best] to be fair.”
Is Adam Radwan one of the fastest rugby players in the world right now? ? pic.twitter.com/YI7uTtJdli
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 10, 2021
Yet it wasn’t a global superstar that Radwan watched growing up, but a hot stepping Samoan international that terrorised Gallagher Premiership defences for several seasons at Newcastle Falcons.
“When I was very young I wasn’t that interested in rugby. But when I started watching it, it was Sinoti [Sinoti Sinoti]. Just because he was a freak.
“I remember when I first went to Newcastle, you’d see him in training. He would just be the most chilled, relaxed man.
“I remember my first year we had a pre-season game, an internal game, and he got the ball and had a one on one with the fullback and he tried to chip it and it just went straight into the fullback’s stomach, and it was like ‘what is this guy doing?’ But when it came to game time, on his day, when we finished in the top 4, he and Niki [Goneva] were the best wingers in Europe. They were undefendable.”
Who are the fastest men in rugby?
A breakdown of the sport's flyers and the times they've clocked ??https://t.co/hr2q7pnmo1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 17, 2020
“Sinoti was so small and he had such good feet, he’d either rinse you or bump you. He was so unbelievably strong. I was lucky as I got to train with those two quite often and you got to watch them in awe and try to learn as much as you could from them.”
“When I was at primary school I was dead fast. It made me think, why don’t slow people just run faster? Obviously, I know that’s not right now, as there’s much more to it.
Adam Radwan. TAKE A BOW ???#ENGvCAN @Channel4 pic.twitter.com/jVkaX7F7h6
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 10, 2021
“With speed mechanics you can go into so much. When I first got to Newcastle, Kev, our S&C said ‘you’ve probably got the worst running technique I’ve ever seen’, from a back.’
“But he didn’t want to change too much because it was working. I looked at that [running mechanics], did a few little tweaks here and there. Did some gym stuff – as if the legs are stronger you can push more through them.
“There is quite a lot to it. If you’re going to get faster, it’s not going to just happen overnight. It takes time.
“I don’t squat. I very rarely squat. It’s all about cleans. A lot of jump based stuff. My best clean is 140[kg] off the floor.
“I do reactive stuff like jumping over hurdles, a lot of lateral jumps. The forwards come in and they’re deadlifting and squatting and I’m basically jumping around the gym. I get a lot of stick for that but they’re like carthorses.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Oh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
1 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to comments