Christian Wade is one try away from rugby history. The Newcastle Red Bulls winger sits on 100 Premiership tries — one behind Chris Ashton’s all-time record of 101 — and Friday night’s derby against Sale Sharks (19:45 BST) is his first chance to equal and surpass the mark.
Christian Wade of Newcastle Red Bulls (Credits: BBC Sport)
A hat-trick away to Exeter Chiefs in Newcastle’s last Prem fixture made Wade only the second player to reach a century of tries in the competition. Remarkably, the first of those 100 came over 15 years ago — a teenage Wade scoring for Wasps away to Exeter in May 2011, in a side featuring England World Cup winners Josh Lewsey and Simon Shaw.
Christian Wade’s Road to the Premiership Try Record
Wade scored 82 of his 100 tries for Wasps, finishing as the Prem’s leading try-scorer in three separate seasons (2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18). His chase of Ashton’s record is even more remarkable for a six-year absence: in 2018 he headed to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills via the International Player Pathway, spending three seasons on the practice squad without a full NFL appearance. He then returned to rugby union via Racing 92 in Paris (10 tries in two seasons), Gloucester (11 tries), and even a six-month spell in rugby league with Wigan Warriors.
Ashton’s record of 101 has stood for 1,285 days. The former England winger regularly jokes about losing it — but Wade insists the milestone isn’t on his mind. “I am someone who is going to score tries. That’s what I do. That’s what I love to do,” he said. “The better we can do [as a team], the more tries I’m going to score.”
Wade’s Newcastle Revival Under Dan McFarland
Wade joined Newcastle just under a year ago and scored only two tries last season as the Red Bulls finished bottom. But he signed a 12-month extension to stay at Kingston Park under new head coach Dan McFarland and attack coach Stephen Jones — his old Wasps team-mate and Wales legend. Now level with Tommy Freeman on five tries as the joint-leading try-scorer this season, the 35-year-old shows no signs of slowing down.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
