The 37.8 km/hr teenager speeding through Irish rugby
The weeping of an heir is laughter in disguise
Just as athletics has been scraping around trying to find a replacement for the now soccer playing Usain Bolt – rugby union has still not found a true “heir to Habana”.
Sure, there are some rapid players like Perry Baker and Carlin Isles from the US, but they are making names for themselves in Sevens not fifteens. And the US isn’t yet able to be described as a top bracket test side.
The fastest player I played with was undoubtedly Chris Ashton, and we all know what impact a player with extra gears can have – with Ashton now back in England with Sale Sharks, Eddie Jones would be crazy not to consider him for Japan next year.
But it seems that Habana’s true heir might not feature in Japan next year, if only because the World Cup will come too soon.
Aaron Sexton is still at school but in recent weeks he has scored seven tries in Ulster A’s Celtic Cup campaign. Last weekend in picking up two tries against Connacht A he accelerated to 37.8 km/hr – according to Ulster Rugby the fastest player speed ever recorded by an Ulster player in a match.
In June this year aged 17, Sexton smashed the Northern Irish Boys 100m record with a time of 10.52 seconds in winning the all-island Irish Schools Athletics Championships. He also went on to win the 200m title in a pretty handy 21.12 seconds. In July he took that 200m time down further to 21.06 at the World Under-20 Championships in Finland.
Roll forward one month and still aged 17, Sexton made his full Ulster debut as a second half replacement in pre-season against Gloucester.
But Sexton isn’t some fast kid giving rugby a go, he’s been combining rugby with athletics for some time, having represented Ireland Rugby at underage levels. And whilst the buzz about Sexton might not yet have created waves outside the notorious Belfast bubble – it’s only a matter of time.
In an interview with Luke Fitzgerald’s Left Wing podcast, Ulster scrum half John Cooney has already publicly predicted that Sexton is in line to become a big star.
Sexton’s easy transition to the Ulster A-side suggests the next step to first team regular isn’t too far away. The same backroom team that handled Jacob Stockdale’s transition are handling Sexton’s, and that gives good reason to expect similar positive outcomes for the teenager.
With the retirement last season of Ulster wing legends Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe, Ravenhill was gripped with anxiety about squad depth and where Jacob Stockdale and Craig Gilroy might receive back up. But that anxiety has been replaced by a debate not about how far Sexton can be progressed -but how soon.
It’s a great position for Ulster Rugby to find themselves in with another teenage winger Angus Kernohan already blooded in the first team this season, and Ireland Sevens success Robert Baloucoune, himself only twenty-one, scoring freely for the A-side on the opposite wing to Sexton.
And when ambitious players must to compete hard just to be selected, you know great things lie ahead.
A lion runs the fastest when he’s hungry
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments