Christian Wade: 'I see myself in Louis Rees-Zammit, he's facing the same challenges'

09/30/2024 12:00 PM

Gloucester wing is targeting Chris Ashton's try-scoring record after a spell in the NFL and at Racing 92 in France

In another life Christian Wade would have been playing for the Bills against the Ravens over the weekend, not scoring a hat-trick for Gloucester in their win at Bristol on Friday. Wade, 33, is back in the Premiership after six years away, four of them in the NFL, and two more playing rugby for Racing 92 in France. He has already made headlines by saying he is determined to break Chris Ashton's record and become the league's all-time leading try scorer (he needs 17 more to do it) but underneath all that swagger, he has become a fascinating athlete to talk to; older, wiser, more reflective after his years away. He has done more living than a lot of people in his line of work.

Wade never actually made it on to the pitch for the Bills in a league game. He famously scored a 65-yard touchdown with his very first carry in a pre-season match against the Colts, but that was about as good as it got. He spent the next three years on and off the Bills' practice squad, which is more of an achievement than it sounds. There are more than 73,000 college footballers in the US, and around 16,000 of them are eligible for the 250 slots in the NFL draft. Among them, Wade was just another prospect, competing against men who knew a hell of a lot more about the sport. Most of what he knew he learned "playing Madden".