‘Eddie does not rate me, but I will just enjoy my time at Wasps’
Try-scoring machine Christian Wade is not bothered by cap snub, he tells Charlie Morgan
If he stays free from serious injury, Christian Wade should canter past the Premiership’s all-time try-scoring record at some point in the spring. At the moment, Tom Varndell leads the way with 92. Mark Cueto is next, on 90. Wade has 82, plundering 54 of those in his past 80 league appearances since September 2014. He backs himself to reach double figures each season, a feat he has achieved four times in succession.
Worcester, Wasps’ opponents today, have come in for especially harsh treatment. In his past three games against them, Wade has scored a total of 10 tries.
While playmakers Jimmy Gopperth and Lima Sopoaga will not be part of the Wasps back line today, Wade could start swiftly in his chasing down Varndell.
When the 27-year-old inevitably overtakes his former club-mate, though, he will not expect to receive a congratulatory call from England head coach Eddie Jones.
“The last time he spoke to me was … I can’t remember now,” Wade says after thinking hard. “He was just telling me to keep scoring.”
Wade (right) smiles, hinting that he thinks that instruction held something back. “We’re not really in contact. I don’t think he rates me or I’m not the type of player he wants in his team, so there’s not really any need to stay in contact.
“But that’s all good. I’ll enjoy my time at Wasps doing what I do, really. That’s the main thing.”
The sight of Damian Mckenzie shredding international defences this summer has underlined how size does not always have to bar diminutive players from the top. Wade, far from bitter, seems resigned to retiring with the one cap he won against Argentina in 2013. Snubs have not dulled a desire to hone his talents, though.
On holiday in New Jersey this summer, he linked up with speed coach Steve Gonzalez
– an specialist from American football who had introduced himself from across the Atlantic with a private message on Instagram. Video footage of the pair at work is fascinating.
“I was surprised how closely he’d been watching my games,” Wade says. “He was telling me how sometimes I’d get the ball and do too many steps. He was saying I could have just done two or three steps and be gone.”
Some of Wade’s tries have been unopposed walk-ins off the shoulder of game-breaking runners such as Dan Robson, Elliot Daly or Willie le Roux. The creativity of Danny Cipriani, now at Gloucester, has laid on a few more. But Wade also possesses a portfolio of finishes conjured from nothing. His ability to beat men in negligible space is unparalleled in England. If his Stateside sessions enhance that gift, Premiership fans are in for a treat. Wasps director of rugby Dai Young will demand that
marked improvements in the wing’s defensive positioning and decision-making continue. Wade has also spent time at full-back during pre-season for a different perspective and greater freedom.
As Sopoaga and Brad Shields arrive, silverware must be the aim for Young’s squad. Last season Wasps battled through an injury crisis only to stumble at crucial junctures – hosting Harlequins in the Champions Cup pool stage, for instance. Their 57-33 Premiership semi-final loss to Saracens capped a domestic campaign in which they ran in 81 tries and let in 63.
“We’ve been speaking about being harder on ourselves on the training pitch so that can drive the performances,” Wade says.
“One of our mottos has been that if you’re not saying something, you’re promoting it. So, if someone throws a bad pass and you don’t tell a person where they’re messing up, you’re promoting that. You are saying it’s the right thing to do. We’ve probably become a bit too comfortable with winning some games, losing others, being a bit relaxed in games, just thinking we are going to win. We need to have more of a ruthless attitude.
“Last year felt like we definitely relied on attack. We thought, ‘It doesn’t matter how many tries this team scores, we’ll score more. We’ll just let in this try…’”
Wade laughs and catches himself. Neither he nor Wasps are quite that casual. “Well that’s not what we thought. But watching us you might think, ‘They’ve just missed that tackle. What are they doing?’ Usually if you score three or four tries, the game’s dead. It’s put to bed. Sometimes last year we would score six tries and they’d score three, but because we had given away 20 penalties they’d get close to winning. We’ve got to be ruthless at every point, every play of the game.”