Free agent Wade says rugby’s lost its ‘buzz’
FORMER Wasps winger Christian Wade believes drastic changes need to be made to rugby union to bring its ‘buzz back’.
Wade has spent the last three-and-a-half years absorbed in the razzmatazz of American Football having progressed through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Programme and earned a deal with the Buffalo Bills.
The one-time England international earned a spot on the franchise’s practice squad but was released earlier this year and is back in the United Kingdom pondering his next move – which could see him return to the sport he left behind in 2018.
But the 31-year-old’s trip home has not seen him become immersed in rugby union despite it coinciding with the business end of the season as Heineken Champions Cup silverware has been lifted and the Gallagher Premiership nears its conclusion.
“There is not much coverage or a buzz around it,” said Wade. “I haven’t really kept my eye on it since I’ve been in the NFL.
“I was with some family last weekend, everyone was still focused on soccer, football, there was rugby on but no-one was really watching it.
“There’s definitely a lack of buzz around the sport. It’s not an issue for me, but guys who are in the sport, that is something that is quite troubling. Some drastic changes need to be done to get that buzz back. I don’t know exactly what that is.”
Wade left the Premiership as its third-highest tryscorer on 82, he has since dropped down to fourth following Chris Ashton’s resurgence at Leicester.
The prolific winger has seen his first sporting love slide during his time Stateside and believes plenty needs to be done to get rugby competing with other top sports.
“When I was coming through, cricket wasn’t really a thing,” Wade said. “If you look at it now, it’s huge. You know, the IPL (Indian Premier League), players are getting paid really well, sponsorships, partnerships, it’s massive.
“At the end of the day it’s still show business, it’s entertainment, so it has to be entertaining. You want people to want to be involved in it.
“That’s what all stakeholders players, coaches, then businesses who want to invest in it, partners, if it’s not entertaining, then it’s just going to be there until it’s not there anymore.
“I think that rugby needs to put its business hat on once and for all, and start to figure out ways to make it attractive, and stop trying to keep it exclusive for a certain demographic because that’s really where the issues lie, I think.”
Wade has been linked with moves to Exeter, Leicester and former club Wasps but is also open to being picked up by an NFL side to continue his American Football adventure.
“I’m a free agent right now, I’m taking my time,” he said. “Pre-season’s coming up end of July, my aim, if I want to continue NFL for this season, will be to get on a team for training camp. If not, I guess keep myself available as a free agent, and any team can pick me up at any moment.
“Or I can wait until next season. It’s really down to me, what I want to do. In the UK, if you’re not with a team, it’s kind of like ‘oh he’s stopped playing’, whereas in the NFL you can really not play for two years, but just stay in shape, keep working out, do workouts for teams, do practice squads, someone might get injured and they’re like ‘ah cool, you’re now our starter’.
“So, it’s very fluid in that sense, I know everyone’s seen ‘ah he’s been released, ah so he’s coming back to rugby’, that’s not the case. It’s a completely different ball game really.”