NPC coach's advice to Eddie Osei-Nketia over possible code switch
Canterbury head coach Mark Brown has offered a piece of advice to star Kiwi sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia over a potential cross-code switch to rugby.
RugbyPass revealed earlier this week that Osei-Nketia's management team and the Crusaders had entered "preliminary discussions" over a possible switch to rugby following the 20-year-old's shock exclusion from New Zealand's Tokyo Olympics athletics team.
Speaking to media shortly after Canterbury's 2021 NPC squad announcement on Wednesday, Brown admitted he knew little about Osei-Nketia, but recommended that he make the switch as quickly as possible if is serious about a career in rugby.
"The first thing for him would be to make a career shift and commit to being a rugby player. Things will look after themselves from there," Brown said.
"He'd be fast. I think he comes from a rugby background but, honestly, I don't know too much about him ... but anyone who gets him wouldn't be starting from scratch."
While nothing about Osei-Nketia's rugby-playing future is set in stone, the youngster - whose 100m personal best is 10.12s, just 0.01s shy of his father and New Zealand record-holder Gus Nketia - said it would be a dream to play for the Crusaders.
“I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot, wearing the red and playing down in Christchurch in the cold,” Osei-Nketia told RugbyPass.
“It’d be a massive honour to play for one of the best teams of all-time in Super Rugby, helping them out and being a part of the Christchurch community.”
He conceded, however, that he would need to fully commit himself to a cross-code move if he is to make the cut in rugby.
“But, in order for me to play for the Crusaders, I need to get there first. I need to work hard, I need to grind hard, and I just need to be on top.
“I need to be studying the game. I need to make sure that I’m always studying and putting my mind on small things so I can get there one day.”
Osei-Nketia believes he is capable of doing that via the Crusaders, though, due to the franchise's "elite" training facilities.
“It looks like a pretty elite academy that can transfer rugby players to elite rugby players. If I go through the academy, I believe that I could change into a very, very talented rugby player. That’s what I think.”
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Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
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