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There has been a lot of love online for Census Johnston after veteran prop announces his retirement
By Josh Raisey
The premature end to the rugby season in France last week has seen another veteran player announce their retirement as Bayonne prop Census Johnston has called an end to his career. The announcement was made on social media on Wednesday on his 38th birthday and he has since received many glowing responses from former team-mates.
Having played for Biarritz, Saracens, Toulouse, Racing 92 and Bayonne in a 14-year career in the northern hemisphere, the tighthead has amassed many colleagues over the years.
It is perhaps his compatriots who have recognised his contribution to his country the most, though. Johnston won 57 caps for Samoa and three more for the Pacific Islands in a career that spanned twelve years between 2005 and 2017 and saw him play in three World Cups.
In light of his contribution to the international game, Seilala Mapasua said: “What (he has) done for Samoa is equivalent to playing 150 tests for a tier-one nation.” Likewise, Junior Poluleuligaga described him as “one of the greats” for Samoa.
Taking into consideration the fact that Brian Lima holds Samoa’s caps record with 65, it puts Johnston’s longevity and service into context.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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