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Ex-Wasps star Wade struggling with NFL transition

By Ben Spratt
Christian Wade (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Former England rugby union international Christian Wade admits he is struggling to make the transition to American football but will not give up.

Wade quit rugby and Wasps in October to pursue a career in the NFL through the International Player Pathway programme.

The 27-year-old is currently learning the trade in the United States in a bid to earn a contract in the league, yet it has not all been plain sailing so far.

"I have had a couple of those [tough] days," he told Sky Sports. "There was a day out in Florida where we were doing some classroom stuff and I was just getting everything wrong.

"They were asking me to draw this up and then they were like, 'No'. I was thinking, 'I'm pretty sure I learnt this last week'.

"There have been times where I've been like, 'Ah, what am I doing?' It's so hard, I'm getting it wrong and I'm trying to figure out where I stand and how I will learn all this stuff.

"Then I just have to remember the things I've done in my career and everything I've left behind as well. That gives me the motivation to want to get it right, to learn and to just figure out what I need to figure out in order to be successful.

"That's what it is. You can either give up because it gets too hard or you can take a step back and just figure this out and keep pushing through."