'Unreal': Rugby union star scores 65-yard touchdown with first touch in NFL
A former England rugby player has taken the NFL by storm.
Christian Wade, a former rugby union star who played two Test matches for his country, made his debut for the Buffalo Bills against the Indianapolis Colts.
And with his very first touch in an NFL game, Wade scored an incredible 65-yard touchdown.
Lining up at running back, Wade took the ball straight up the middle and didn’t look back.
Showing the trademark speed that made him a star in rugby union, Wade burned multiple Colts defenders to take it to the house.
The remarkable moment sent the NFL world into meltdown.
In his first football game ever. On his first NFL touch.
Former England rugby superstar Christian Wade just scored a 65-yard TD!!!@ChristianWade3 #INDvsBUF pic.twitter.com/4You01TFXz— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2019
Christian Wade will forever remember that moment. Unreal! @NFLUK
— Jeremy Kelley (@JK_Kelley) August 9, 2019
First NFL game. First NFL touch.
Former rugby star Christian Wade scores a 65-yd TD 😱pic.twitter.com/t5LWLTvcPy— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 9, 2019
You can literally find running backs ANYWHERE.
28-yr old Christian Wade played rugby in England until this April, when he was allocated to the Bills as part of the NFL’s “International Player Pathway Programme”
Look at that juice!!! pic.twitter.com/3R1GqwCb6S— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 9, 2019
Incredible! Gotta love to see it! Former rugby player from England, Christian Wade, takes it 65 yards to the house for the #Bills! No one was close to catching him pic.twitter.com/JlAD7iq2M1
— Nick Wojton (@Nick_Wojton) August 9, 2019
England native Christian Wade jumps the pond into the endzone on his first carry. 65 yards, the team's going nuts on the sideline
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) August 9, 2019
Wade shocked the rugby union world when he unexpectedly quit the sport last year in pursuit of his American Football dream.
The former Wasps and England winger joined the NFL through the International Player Pathway Program, which allows four teams every year to carry 91 players on their roster through the off-season, including one from abroad, rather than the usual 90.
Wade, who was called up to the British and Irish Lions squad in 2013, signed a contract with Buffalo in April and is fighting to make the Bills' 53-man regular-season roster as a running back and kick returner.
Wade has fine credentials as the third-highest try scorer in English Premiership rugby's history.
He believes there are enough similarities between his two sports to make the transition possible.
"The evasive skills, being able to read where space is and gaps. Footwork wise, that is kind of like the way I used to play," he said previously.
"You can use that definitely. And just the normal hand-eye coordination when you are running routes.
"When the ball is coming at you, being able to position yourself in the correct way. There are some transferrable skills there."
with agencies