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'I'm not sure Bastareaud was a smart signing... you want proper value and Robshaw ticks that box'
USA Eagles boss Gary Gold believes San Diego Legion have made the “perfect signing” by convincing Chris Robshaw, the former England captain, to join Major League Rugby after his illustrious career with Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership finishes later this year.
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Unlike Rugby United New York’s decision to bring in an overweight ex-France midfielder Mathieu Bastareaud, whose short-lived MLR stint ended with the centre joining Lyon in April, Gold suggested the arrival of Robshaw on a two-year deal at Legion can have significant benefits for the American league and its ambitious expansion plans.
MLR are aiming to be a genuine alternative to Japan and signing Robshaw, who won 66 England caps and led his country 43 times – including at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, is a major statement of intent.
Robshaw will head to California when he completes a short-term extension that will see him help Harlequins, whom he skippered to 2012 Premiership glory, finish their delayed season which is due to restart in August.
“It is critically important for the MLR to sign a player like Chris Robshaw,” said Gold to RugbyPass after it emerged that the 33-year-old flanker will join Legion, the Californian-based club whose squad includes Ma’a Nonu, the double World Cup-winning All Black centre.
Heading to America ?? https://t.co/hrutqh9ihi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 17, 2020
“Chris is such a good guy, a great rugby player and an inspiring leader in a critical position and it is a perfect signing. The USA guys at San Diego are going to get the chance to find out what it is like to play alongside Chris Robshaw and Ma’a Nonu and that will be a wonderful experience.
“Neither Chris or Ma’a are past their sell-by date and have a huge amount of value to add. It will enhance the value of the MLR. I remember Martin Johnson being asked about Josh Kronfeld joining Leicester and concerns about an influx of foreign players into England.
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“He said it was a critical balance but that they needed to be playing week in, week out with players of the quality of Kronfeld and Joel Stransky because there could be so much to learn from them. Ma’a Nonu in San Diego and Tendai Mtawarira for Washington are also great signings but there have also been some bad ones where you pay over the odds for a guy well past his sell-by date and it doesn’t help the game.
“I have nothing against him, but I’m not sure Mathieu Bastareaud was a smart signing when you are so limited financially. If you spend that kind of money you want proper value and Chris Robshaw ticks that box.
“It’s a brilliant acquisition for San Diego and the players who will be playing alongside him. At Old Glory DC in Washington, those players were around Tendai, who had played over 100 times for the Springboks. Now the San Diego guys are going to play with a guy who captained England for four successful years.”
Earlier this month, Legion confirmed that former Scotland captain Scott Murray and USA Sevens legend Zack Test will be their new joint head coaches for 2021 after the 2020 campaign was halted just five games in due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
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“Ultimately, you want MLR to become as fiercely competitive and as powerful as possible,” added Gold. “There are some good teams in Japan but there are still some question marks over whether the Japanese league is such a powerful one.
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be joining the @SDLegion , in the @usmlr for the start of the 2020/2021 season.
Since its inception, the San Diego Legion have established themselves as one of the leading powerhouses of American Rugby.
? @themediabunker pic.twitter.com/wbJyDtNk2I— Chris Robshaw (@ChrisRobshaw) June 17, 2020
“Undoubtedly it is important for players like Robshaw, Mtawarira and Nonu to be seen to be choosing the MLR but there also has to be a management of expectation because we don’t have Japanese money in the US game.
“You counter that with the lifestyle and people do want to experience the USA. While I haven’t spoken to Chris, I did speak to Ma’a and it was something that was of interest to him. There is a huge amount of interest from South African guys who would like to try the MLR and some may even want to fulfil the qualification rule to play Test rugby.
“It is important that the MLR is seen as a rugby destination while accepting that you don’t want teams jam-packed with foreign players to the determent of the USA game.”
Make sure to read a fascinating insight into @ChrisRobshaw's childhood by @RugbyPass. Robshaw was visiting his old club @MightyWarl, at one of Gallagher’s grassroots #TrainWithYourHeroes sessions last week: https://t.co/IwCYBD3z3r
— Gallagher UK (@GallagherUK) March 18, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
Did the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
15 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
15 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
15 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
15 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to comments