'We had a freeze on, unfortunately the timing wasn't right'
Wasps boss Lee Blackett has admitted they did put in an offer for Christian Wade but it came too late for their former record-scoring winger to agree to return to the club he left in October 2018 for a shot at the NFL in America.
Wade returned to England earlier this year after his stint at the Buffalo Bills had ended and he quickly expressed a desire to return to rugby.
However, he found the market restricted in the Gallagher Premiership due to the reduced salary cap across the league and wasn’t helped either by the recruitment freeze implemented at Wasps for a large part of the summer due to their financial problems.
By the time the Wasps board gave Blackett the go-ahead to return to the market, Wade was being courted by Racing 92 and following on from an appearance for them in a pre-season sevens tournament in Pau, it was confirmed on Monday that he had signed a one-year deal with the Top 14 club.
“I’m excited to announce I’ve officially signed for Racing,” tweeted Wade on Monday. “Looking forward to working with this special group of people and winning championships! With God, all things are possible.”
At his midweek media briefing ahead of this Saturday’s first home match of the new Premiership season versus Bristol, Wasps boss Blackett described Wade as the player that got away on them as they were too late with their offer for him to come back to Coventry. “The facts are it was too late,” he said. “We were keen. I was interested to see how he would go back in the sport.
"He was obviously really passionate about the club, so it was definitely something we were willing to look at and speak to. There is nothing we could have done.
“He came into the club (during the summer) and we spoke at that time but then it was always through our recruitment guys but as I spoke about a couple of weeks ago, we had a freeze on for a while so there was no point speaking to someone when you can’t do anything about it.
“If there was a deal to happen we may have been able to have done it but unfortunately the timing wasn’t right,” continued Blackett, who added that the 31-year-old might come under consideration for Wasps again next year given the short duration of his deal in France. “His contract is out at the end of the season so you might be asking me then.”
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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