Radradra slips out of a back door at ANZ Stadium and heads for France
Back in 2015, Scrum-half Will Genia famously told reporters he would report for duty at Top 14 side Stade Francais the day after Australia’s World Cup run in England came to an end.
He kept his promise, as much as possible given that the final was on a Saturday, dutifully turning up at the Paris club’s training ground the following Monday. He even started for Stade the following weekend in the 24-21 defeat at home to Bordeaux.
Ultimately, things did not quite work out for Genia at Stade. He was released from his three-year deal a season early to sign for Melbourne Rebels and returned to Australia in time for the 2017 Rugby Championship.
But history has a tendency to repeat itself, especially when it comes to cute little stories like Genia’s. Earlier this year, now-former Parramatta Eels’ winger Semi Radradra told reporters in Australia he would head to France and a lucrative two-year cross-code contract with Top 14 side Toulon as soon as the club’s NRL run ended. Which it did at the weekend with a surprise defeat to North Queensland Cowboys.
To the dismay and annoyance of waiting journalists at ANZ Stadium, he apparently slipped quietly out of a back door without a word after the match. They couldn’t even able to talk to him about the 100m touchdown he scored as a – possibly temporary – farewell to the club’s fans.
Word is, the 25-year-old hopped on the first available flight to France. He was expected to land in the port town on the Mediterranean coast early this week.
https://youtu.be/dd1lh-NaMWU
There was, for quite some time, some confusion over whether Radradra would make the trip north. He appeared to question his future; Toulon boss Mourad Boudjellal suggested that it may be better if he did not join the club if he was not prepared to be fully committed; then he said he will honour his contract – even that he is looking forward to it. Now, it seems, he really is on his way.
Toulon already have a plan for the winger, twice-weekly rugby newspaper Midi Olympique reports. He is expected to move from the wing into the midfield, where he will partner one of Ma’a Nonu, Mathieu Bastareaud or Malakai Fekitoa as part of a ferocious-looking centre rotation.
Eventually, at least. While Radradra may join his new team-mates for next weekend’s trip to Paris and Genia’s old club, he’ll be suited and booted rather than in full kit. Bosses at Toulon are giving him a little time to settle into at the club and get to grips with the 15-player version of the game.
Comments on RugbyPass
His decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
2 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seem like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
2 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
3 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
3 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
7 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
7 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
4 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
4 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
7 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
7 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
200 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
200 Go to commentsPerhaps we may need to put an asterisk on NZ’s ‘87 WC win since the Boks weren’t there. You know, just as a reminder. Poor Ben Smith. Go cry somewhere else.
200 Go to comments