Christian Wade saves teammate’s dignity with try from horror kick
If Racing 92 fly-half Antoine Gibert had any self respect, he would write to the Top 14 and ask if he could have his assist on Sunday in the Parisian derby scrubbed from the record. No player has ever deserved an assist less.
That may sound harsh, but any cross-field kick that goes backwards, barely lifts off the ground and goes nowhere near a teammate never deserves to result in a try. In fact, it should result in a try at the other end of the field, and it very nearly did as two Stade Francais defenders came close to intercepting the ball.
But thanks to the brilliance of his winger Christian Wade, Gibert has an assist to add to his record. There’s no justice.
The only positive from the kick was that it was so bad that Wade was forced to sprint in the opposite direction to the covering defence in order to get to the ball. As a result, that meant he could catch four Stade Francais players off balance as he cut through their defence to run in under the posts.
To make matters worse for Stade Francais, they ended up losing the match at the Stade Jean Bouin 17-13, with Racing scoring a try in the second half that relied on a funny bounce of the ball from a kick as well.
Take a look at the try:
Gibert opportuniste et les Racingmen ouvrent le score avec l’éclair Christian Wade !!!#SFPR92 #TOP14 #FanDays #SFParis #RacingFamily pic.twitter.com/RZum7JrwW4
— Le Top14 Pas Officiel (@Top14PasOff) March 26, 2023
Wade has been in red hot form for Racing since making the move back to rugby union in the latter stages of last year following a stint in the NFL. Had he made the move back to the Gallagher Premiership, he would surely be on Steve Borthwick’s radar with the kind of form he is showing. He may still be holding out hope of earning a second England cap, particularly with the increasing demands for players abroad to be selected for England.
