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'Greatest non-catch ever': Hurricanes star Ruben Love stuns in cricket match
By Kim Ekin
The annual Black Clash T20 cricket match between Team Rugby and Team Cricket has seen some memorable moments from former and current rugby players with the white ball.
Jordie Barrett has shown his pace bowling, former All Black captain Kieran Read produced a brilliant knock of 73 last year, fullback Will Jordan blitzed former Black Caps at the top of the order in 2022, and now Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love has joined the list.
Love stunned the Bay Oval crowd with a 'speccy' one-handed catch over the rope, producing something that you would expect from Odell Beckham Jr on the grid iron.
The aerial grab saw Love launch from inside the oval, flying back to snag Gareth Hopkins' six with one hand. Unfortunately there was no way Love was able to make the catch count, landing way over the rope.
It's been dubbed the 'greatest non-catch ever' on Twitter and was called worthy of being on ESPN's top plays.
The 22-year-old athlete was a talented cricketer back at high school with many believing Love had a potential career in cricket too. He represented New Zealand U19 in cricket and at one point in time was favouring the bat and ball.
Love showed his ability with the bat as Team Rugby tried to chase down 222, falling just short by seven runs. Coming in down the order Love smashed 47 off 17 balls in a whirlwind cameo.
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We’re only now reaching the first stage in rugby - as some of the top coaches in the game like Graham Henry, Eddie Jones, Warren Gatland, Steve Hansen etc are all in their mid sixties, or more. It is the first time in the pro era this has happened, hence unexplored territory.
My guess is that rugby will learn to value the IP stored in such ppl, just as it will learn to value the contributions of ppl outside the game looking in - pretty much the message of Bill James and Moneyball!
Go to comments1] Who knows? Was he thinking that far ahead? It does imply a committment to Tonga, and we don’t want players to ‘transfer. between nations as frequently as they do clubs!
2] Yes I recognize that, which does beg the question whether the current rules will really help Tonga and Samoa achieve tier one status.
3] I think it would be fair to bring the stand-down into line with residency at 5 years.
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