Timing is everything in professional sport. England will announce this week a squad of around 40 players for the QBE autumn series and are looking for potential match-winners to face New Zealand a fortnight on Saturday. Step forward Christian Wade, whose individual try for Wasps against Leinster was definitely international class.
There will be several other pacy wings in Stuart Lancaster’s squad, with Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde, Semesa Rokoduguni and Chris Ashton among those vying for places against the All Blacks, but the electric Wade deserves a selectorial break more than most. He was due to make his home Test debut last season only to fall victim to a hamstring injury, and subsequent surgery to correct damaged ligaments in his left foot kept him out for the remainder of last season.
According to the Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, Wade is still feeling his way back to his best, but give him half a yard to “use my gas” and there is no more eye-catching finisher in the country. Three Leinster tacklers were left clutching at thin air as he accelerated away up the right touchline to score on Sunday from a standing start. Leinster still won the game 25-20 but Wade’s spectacular effort helped ensure Wasps flew home with a losing bonus point.
His defensive appetite is also growing and while competition is increasing all the time, the rapid 23-year-old is desperate to make the most of any opportunity he is given next month. “I’ve only got one cap and I really want to get more. I’m not sure if I’m going to get into the squad but I’ve just got to keep getting better every game I play for Wasps.
“I know that I can’t just rely on scoring tries – I also have to have the right defensive mind-set. I have to be good at defending, at the wide breakdowns, the high balls and the kick-chase.
“As a winger, those are all things that people are going to be looking at. It’s more than just scoring tries. But I have to keep working on my strengths as well as on my weaknesses. I need to have that overall game and see where it takes me.”
The lengthy injury break, however, did temporarily knock Wade’s confidence; as a smaller man on a field inhabited by giants it is not always a simple matter to ease straight back into the dazzling old routine.
“For me it’s been a difficult last year. I had the injury and was out for about nine months. In the first few games I played after that I was trying to feel my way back into it. I wasn’t holding back, I was trying to do my best, but I was making mistakes. Scoring tries like this one makes me feel like my old self again and that will give me real confidence. I’ve just got to play as much rugby as I can and see what else I produce.”
Wade’s gathering momentum, if nothing else, gives Lancaster an exciting range of options out wide this autumn. The uncapped Rokoduguni has been outstanding this season and along with Gloucester’s Jonny May has scored four tries in his side’s first six Premiership games. Yarde is the man in possession but Watson is also highly regarded and could well win his first cap this autumn. Both he and Rokoduguni are set to be named in England’s squad on Wednesday.
The management, however, are continuing to work against the familiar backdrop of injury concerns, with Manu Tuilagi and Kyle Eastmond the latest worries. Tuilagi has a recurring groin problem which resurfaced against Ulster on Saturday and is already a major doubt for the start of England’s campaign. Eastmond was forced off the field prematurely with a rib problem in Glasgow on Saturday, potentially further complicating Lancaster’s midfield equation.
It increasingly looks as though Saracens’ Brad Barritt will be in line for a recall, possibly alongside Northampton’s Luther Burrell should Tuilagi be unavailable at 13. A more complementary fit at outside-centre, though, might be the elusive Jonathan Joseph who added a Champions Cup try at the weekend to the five he has already scored in the Premiership.
Joe Launchbury, who tweaked a knee in Dublin, does not look to have done serious damage but the Saracens hooker, Schalk Brits, will undergo knee ligament surgery this week after being carried off in the second-half of Saracens’ weekend win over Clermont Auvergne. The club’s medical staff expect him to be out of action for several months.