62 SPORT SUNDAY AUGUST 11 2019 Bills’ 28-year-old rookie passes on rugby to give NFL a try

AP to go after he scored. “I was “Everyone was celebrating. could only break into a laugh back to the huddle and going blocking to the left, Wade kind of looking around and And I was trying to celebrate at once again being reminded to the next play.” burst through a huge hole, HAVING spent much of his didn’t know,” Wade said, re- but thinking about, ‘What am I how Wade is not your typical It’s one step at a time for avoided a tackle and surged up life playing rugby in England, calling the confusion that set in supposed to do next?"’ he said. NFL rookie. Wade, whose crash course in the right sideline untouched. Christian Wade is so new to after he was mobbed by team- “And everybody’s like, “Yeah, I don’t think we cov- football had him scoring on the Wade is no stranger to scor- American football the 28-year- mates in the end zone follow- ‘Come off the field!’ I ran over ered that maybe in the install: first and only time he touched ing. He left behind a pro- old Buffalo Bills running back ing a 65-yard run in the and it was like, ‘Aaaah!’ But What happens if you score, the ball in a competitive set- fessional rugby career playing wasn’t sure what to do when he Buffalo’s 24-16 preseason- yeah, it was like the best feeling right?” McDermott said, shak- ting. for Wasps of England’s top reached the end zone. opening win over Indianapolis in the world.” ing his head in wonder. Taking the handoff and league, where his 82 career Or where he was supposed on Thursday night. Coach Sean McDermott “He’s used to going right reading how the linemen were tries rank third on the list. D-Day for Aussies hopefuls in RWC deliver warm-ups AFP

EXCITEMENT will be mixed with concern as four of Eu- rope’s leading rugby nations begin their World Cup warm- Bledisloe up program this weekend. Ireland were to host Italy in early today (NT time), with England facing Wales at Twickenham a day later. While some players can be reasonably certain of being on brilliance the plane to Japan, for others the next few weeks represent a last chance to impress. JULIAN LINDEN tackle on Wallabies skipper Not that England have that Michael Hooper. long with their Australian THE Wallabies’ long-suffering It looked harmless enough coach Eddie Jones — brought fans can start believing again but under the letter of the law, in after the team’s first-round that the – and referee Jerome Garces had no exit on home soil at the 2015 maybe even the World Cup – alternative but to show him edition — naming his World could soon be coming home red, making Barrett just the Cup squad tomorrow. after a record-breaking per- fourth All Black to be sent off But John Mitchell, En- formance last night. in a Test. gland’s assistant coach, said on In defiance of all the As much as the old-timers Friday: “I don’t see it as a one gloomy pre-match predictions, hate the softening up of the chance. ’s Australians game, Barrett’s send-off was a “Every day in our environ- hammered New Zealand 47-26 clear reminder of how import- ment is selection and observa- in front of a massive crowd of ant discipline will be at the tion; it doesn’t just come down 61,241 at Optus Stadium to World Cup. to one game. Every day we are offer fresh hope that better Meanwhile, it took James looking at what they do, how times are ahead after 12 O’Connor just 10 minutes to they do it, how they adapt, how months of misery, littered with validate Cheika’s shock deci- they cope with pressure, how embarrassing losses and the sion to pick him at outside cen- they relax, how they connect.” division over ’s exit tre. Nevertheless Mitchell, head from the game. What seemed like an act of coach of his native New Zea- But that was all forgotten desperation from a coach try- land when they reached the last night as the Wallabies ing to pull a rabbit out of a hat semi-finals of the 2003 World posted the highest score any now looks like a masterstroke Cup in Australia won by En- team has ever racked up that could pay off big at the gland, was well aware of what against the All Blacks, who are World Cup. was at stake. badly out of form and out of Although he’s been off the “You are making big deci- luck with the World Cup start- international scene for years sions on young men’s careers,” ing in Japan next month. and has never started a Test in he said. New Zealand played the en- the No.13 jersey, O’Connor’s “They all want to go to a tire second half a man down always had a touch of X-factor World Cup. Having been in after Scott Barrett was sent off about him and that’s exactly those shoes before, I can fully just before the interval so the what he brought to the table empathise with the feelings Wallabies won’t be popping last night. and emotions that he (Jones) the champagne corks just yet. His inside pass that set up goes through. But it is the head But even before he was ’s long-range try coach’s responsibility.” marched, the Wallabies were was a stroke of genius that will England have picked an ex- on top and looking better than ensure he’s on the plane to perimental side, leaving out they have in years. Japan, while his versatility, several first-choice players and For everyone who loves switching between the centres giving debuts to Bath wing Ru- their rugby played hard, the and five-eighth, added a new aridh McConnochie and Glou- red card that was handed to dimension to the attack. cester scrum-half Willi Heinz. Barrett was a blight on the Halfback was Ireland, meanwhile have se- modern game. His “crime” was also brilliant, justifying his se- Reece Hodge celebrates his try during the 2019 Rugby Championship Test between the Wallabies lected a South African-born to lead with his shoulder into a lection ahead of . and All Blacks in last night Picture: CAMERON SPENCER/GETTY lock in Jean Kleyn. Gardner furious as Yankees lose to Jays Fraser-Pryce breaks 40-year record BRETT Gardner lost his cool that saw him hit at least one Bichette walked and scored JAMAICA’S Shelly-Ann Fra- American Evelyn Ashford in Fraser-Pryce said that it al- and the New York Yankees double in nine consecutive in the first, grounded out in the ser-Pryce broke the 40-year- Puerto Rico’s capital in 1979. though it took a while to warm lost their nine-game winning games. Instead of contributing third and fourth and struck out old Pan American Games 200- Fraser-Pryce beat Brazil’s up in Lima’s damp, chilly streak, beaten by the Toronto with his bat, the 21-year-old in the seventh. His average metre record on Friday. Vitoria Cristina Rose, who won weather, she was focused on Blue Jays 8-2 on Friday night. shortstop bailed the Blue Jays dropped from .408 to .385. The two-time Olympic 100 silver, and the Bahamian, her strategy. Blue Jays rookie Bo Bichet- out with his glove, making a Gardner was ejected and had champion clocked 22.43 sec- Tynia Gaither, who took “My coach told me to run te went hitless for the first time run-saving catch on Did Gre- to be restrained from going onds in the Peruvian capital of bronze. “It’s a long time since the first half very hard and I in his 12-game career, ending a gorius’ bases-loaded liner to after home plate umpire Chris Lima. The tournament’s pre- I’ve broken a record,” the 32- decided to go for it from the major league record streak end the fifth. Segal in the fourth. vious record of 22.45 was set by year-old said. gun,” she said.

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