Just for you H'optera. Here is an interview in today's Telegraph with Mr Rugby Anonymous.
Christian Wade exclusive: 'I can break the Premiership try record in one season'
Christian Wade, the former England and British and Irish Lions wing, believes his last conversation with England head coach Eddie Jones six years ago was a ploy to keep the public happy as there was no intention of picking the prolific try-scorer.
Wade, who left rugby for the NFL in 2018, has not been capped at Test level since England's 2013 tour to Argentina and was not selected during Jones’ first season in charge in 2016 despite scoring 12 tries in the Gallagher Premiership for former side Wasps. He is now considering a return to rugby, with one eye on the Premiership's try scoring record which was recently broken by Chris Ashton.
Describing Jones as "a bit of an awkward one", Wade explained that the England head coach encouraged him to "keep scoring tries" during a phone call without offering any more informative feedback.
"He wanted me to work on the stuff I was already good at, already smashing. I obviously said to him ‘yeah, that’s what I’m doing and will continue to do’,” Wade told Telegraph Sport.
"But it wasn’t very informative, you know what I’m saying? How do I get in the team, what’s the purpose of this call? It was almost like he called me so that when I spoke to the media I could say he had called me.
"Before there wasn’t really much chat, but I guess at the time there was pressure on him because of the performances I was putting in. It was almost a courtesy call. I’d rather if you have nothing to say, just don’t call me.
"I think I should be in the team, if you don’t think that then that’s fine, but just be straight up. Say what it is, I’m not picking you for whatever reason, or if you don’t want to say why then just don’t call me and let me get on with it."
Wade, 31, is currently leaning towards a return to rugby after spending the past three-and-a-half years in the NFL as a running back with the Buffalo Bills, revealing that he has spoken twice to his former side Wasps since returning to the UK last month.
"Ultimately, [Wasps] do want me to come back," Wade adds, with the all-time Premiership tries record, currently held by Chris Ashton on 95, in his sights just 13 ahead of his 82 league tries.
"I can do that in one season," Wade says on overtaking Ashton’s mark. "I’ve been doing that since I was a kid. That’s something I’m intrigued by, being back in the Premiership one day to claim that title."
Whether Wade comes back to the Premiership immediately even with Wasps' interest is unclear, with Major League Rugby in the US plus Japan and France all on the table. Describing how he felt before making the major career decision to leave rugby to attempt to crack the NFL, Wade believed he was being blocked by a glass ceiling.
"I’d been at the top with England and the British and Irish Lions, but it was as though I was never going to be a regular at that level for whatever reason," he said.
"No one’s been able to tell me why. That’s the reality of it. Because it’s out of my control, I was content with that and my focus was just being the best athlete I can be. My game went through another level and I got to the point where I was breaking records and felt I needed a new challenge.
"I don’t want to go back into rugby or to a team where I’ll feel that with the glass ceiling effect, or not being able to push the boundaries in terms of performance on and off the field, striving for the best possible."
Misconceptions over Wade's defence and the other areas of his game aside from his lethal finishing ability continue to bemuse him, recalling the extensive work he underwent at Wasps with defence coach Brad Davis.
"One day [Davis] told me: ‘Everyone talks about your defence but have they pulled up the stats?’ If you looked at them for a winger, and even across the board, I rarely missed tackles, my high ball work was really good. Chris Ashton and other guys were missing way more tackles than me, so I asked him ‘why is everyone on my case?’ He said he didn’t know, but that we’d continue to work to keep getting better.
"From that point on, I knew it was a perception. People still say it now, ‘it’s because he misses tackles’, but you’re using the same boring excuses that were used ages ago which were never facts."
Following a fast-tracked education into the complex world of American football, Wade produced a remarkable 65-yard touchdown in a pre-season game for the Bills which went viral. Despite not being able to make Buffalo's final 53-man roster for the season - not helped by a shoulder injury last summer - if he never returns to the NFL then Wade feels he has already succeeded regardless.
"I’m fulfilled. Everything I went through leading up to that first touchdown, in that moment, all the lows and the days where I woke up at 6am thinking it was mad hard and had I made the right decision, is this what I signed up for?
"Those thoughts would go through my head all the time when I was being shouted at and getting stuff wrong. When I scored, in that moment it was what I needed to cement in my head and give myself that thumbs up to say I had made the right decision, that everything I had been through was all worth it in that moment. If I didn’t make a 53-man roster, or touch the field ever again, for that moment alone it was amazing."
While Wade could still bide his time on another NFL practice squad for an opportunity, a return to rugby feels stronger than ever.
"Ultimately a move back to the Premiership will happen at some point. It might not be the first place I go, but it will happen. It all depends on the circumstances," Wade adds. Defences beware.
Always a Wasp