I’m in no rush to get a club deal – Wade
FREE agent Christian Wade wants to avoid being flogged if he returns to rugby union and instead be treated like an ‘elite professional’.
The former Wasps winger’s next move remains unclear following his release from the Buffalo Bills earlier this year, having joined the American Football franchise just five months after his shock retirement from rugby union in 2018.
Wade, the Gallagher Premiership’s fourth-highest tryscorer of all time with 82, has been linked with a return to rugby but a few weeks after top-level English clubs returned to action, he is yet to secure a deal.
“I am not in any hurry to sign for a team just for the sake of it,” Wade said. “It’s quite late in the season and with any discussions we have, I feel that the rugby world doesn’t really know itself what it’s doing.”
While Wade did not manage to make an NFL appearance in his threeyear stay in America’s second-largest city, he was retained in the Bills’ practice squad and scored a sensational 65-yard touchdown with his first touch of a ball in a friendly fixture against Indianapolis Colts in August 2019.
But his opportunities to impress thereafter were hit by the cancellation of games during the global pandemic, and a shoulder injury in August last year proved to be the final nail in the coffin leading to him being cut free.
The once-capped England international has not ruled out remaining in American Football, but has stated his expectations and desires if he is to return to rugby union, some of which have been shaped during his time stateside.
“I am looking to see what values teams think I would bring to them and I am really just looking for a deal that makes sense for all parties,” Wade said.
“That includes championships, scoring lots of tries, being able to help and work with the next generation, the academy. But also, not being flogged as a player. I’ve had that. I am trying to be an elite professional, which is what I’ve been for my whole career, but I’ve actually been treated like one for the last three years. So, going back into rugby, everybody needs to be on a level of being elite and trying to get better every year. Not just as a player but as a rugby club, as the RFU, England, whatever it is. Everybody should be trying to get better, do bigger and better things and maximise potential, otherwise, what are we doing this for?”
Wade is currently back in England having launched his Next Gen You project that will first see him return to where his rugby journey began, Royal Grammar School High Wycombe, to coach a three-day camp for rugby players aged 12 to 16 years of age.
“We’re going full circle from when I was younger and having third-party corporate camps to Christian Wade, a current player, a two-sport international, along with people that invested in his career,” he said. “Giving the camp to the next generation of elite professionals. To me, that’s an incredible bonus.
“It’s going to change so many lives and provide a shop window for people who haven’t been exposed to rugby. It’s going to help those guys who are exposed to it and give them some core values and principles that have been delivered in a different way, which I think will stick and go further in their careers.”
The three-day camp is being held from August 2 to August 4 and costs £185 per child. For more information and to book, visit