TrendsWide
Contact US
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • NBA
  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
TrendsWide
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • NBA
  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
TrendsWide
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Paolo Odogwu: How Wasps star carved way into England squad

by souhaib
January 23, 2021
in News
0
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

You might also like

England v India: Sophia Dunkley will remember Test debut ‘for a long time’

Belgium’s ‘X factor’ proves the difference as Kevin de Bruyne shines

Why US millennials are quitting big cities


Paolo Odogwu
Odogwu played for Leicester and Sale before this breakthrough season with Wasps

Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes. That’s what they say.

If so, it was ill-prepared for Paolo Odogwu’s skillset.

Presented with a powerful 11-stone 11-year-old, his first coach initially picked Odogwu at prop.

Midway through his rugby debut, even the referee was questioning that tactic.

“I scored a 60-metre try and the referee was like ‘you’re too fast to be a prop’, and I was like ‘I don’t really know what a prop is’ to be honest,” Odogwu told the Coventry Telegraph in December.external-link

Fortunately he never really had to learn.

Odogwu’s skills soon saw him shifted from number eight to centre to wing and finally back into midfield and a place in the England squad for Six Nations.

It is reward for a stellar start to the season with Wasps.

An injury to former all Black Malakai Fekitoa opened a door and Odogwu has barged through into the limelight.

The 23-year-old, who also qualifies for Italy and Nigeria, has scored six tries in eight games and leads the Premiership in defenders beaten and metres made.

Paolo Odogwu
Odogwu, who also qualifies for Italy and Nigeria, represented England at under-20 level

Such stats seem almost inevitable when you see him play. Built like a bowling ball, but zipping about like a pinball, he can hurt defences in a number of ways.

He cleverly winkles out gaps in broken-field defences and has the blurring speed to drive through them.

His most recent appearance was in the sort of game he relishes.

Wasps beat Bath in a 52-44 full-throttle barnburner. Odogwu scored two tries, left Jonathan Joseph on the seat of his pants to set up a third and shrugged off Sam Underhill – England’s most effective tackler – on another burst.

“I didn’t know he was there,” said Odogwu afterwards of England coach Eddie Jones’ presence at the Rec.

“That’s good, I hope he enjoyed it.”

Jones seems to have done so. In a Six Nations squad cut down to 28 men by Covid precautions, the Australian, often unswayed by sudden bursts of Premiership form, has found room for a player who was barely on his radar a year ago.

Tries scored Metres made Clean breaks
1. S Simmonds 8 1. P Odogwu 367m 1. P Odogwu 12
2. P Odogwu 5 2. A Barbeary 295m 2 = H Purdy 10
3. Six others 3 3. M Nanai 280m 2 = N David 10

Odogwu made only eight try-less appearances for Wasps in 2019-20. The few headlines were for a red card.

In the last minute of a game against Sale, he went up for a high ball and caught Rohan Janse van Rensburg in the face with his outstretched foot.

Paolo Odogwu reacts after his sending off in the defeat by Sale in November 2019
Odogwu was red carded in Wasps’ defeat by Sale in November 2019

The aftermath and Odogwu’s reflections on it, his sport and society in general show a man who thinks deeply and speaks clearly.

Odogwu reacted with obvious shock to referee Tom Foley’s decision, shaking his head and applauding, apparently sarcastically, as he walked off.

He apologised on social media afterwards, but the venom he received made him question if rugby is as welcoming, accepting and understanding as it sometimes claims.

“It’s an emotional, professional game, but if I show anything besides being stone-faced, shake hands and run off…,” he told The XV.external-link

“It is a slippery slope where you don’t want to display any emotion, you don’t want to show yourself.”

Odogwu, who grew up idolising Nigerian football legend Jay-Jay Okocha, does show himself. He personalises his boots with drawings of wrestlers and superheroes. He dyes his dreadlocks. Asked what he might be if he weren’t a rugby player, he lists fashion designer as a possible career path.

“That’s something that has bothered me for a while because the whole selling point of rugby is that it’s a game for everyone, it’s really inclusive,” he added.

“When you actually look at it, they expect everyone to act in the same way.

“I came through the Leicester Tigers academy and you had to fit a certain mould, it was drill-sergeant kind of vibes.

“You couldn’t have that expression of individuality that makes players different and makes players great.

“In a lot of English teams, you barely see people smiling.”

If Odogwu can add the glitter to the truckload of grit in Jones’ side, there will be a few more grins on English faces.





Source link

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Pinterest
  • Telegram
  • Email
Tags: bbc
Share30Tweet19
Previous Post

Kids Birthday Party Supplies, Cone Hat (White, 6 in, 50-Pack)

Next Post

A Saudi activist raises controversy in a video of her with her husband, naked in the bathtub!

souhaib

Recommended For You

England v India: Sophia Dunkley will remember Test debut ‘for a long time’

by souhaib
June 18, 2021
0

As Sophia Dunkley raised her bat to celebrate reaching a half-century on Test debut against India, her mum was one of the many spectators applauding.So too were her...

Read more

Belgium’s ‘X factor’ proves the difference as Kevin de Bruyne shines

by souhaib
June 18, 2021
0

Belgium needed their 'X factor' substitutions to save them against Denmark and book their place in the last 16 of Euro 2020 after being "put to the test"...

Read more

Why US millennials are quitting big cities

by souhaib
June 18, 2021
0

Smaller cities around the US are offering incentives, sometimes up to $15,000, for young talent to move there. And with remote work on the rise, people are freer...

Read more

Once the future, US now captive to its past

by souhaib
June 18, 2021
0

At the top of Wall Street is the cemetery of Trinity Church, where one of the most storied founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, is interred. Then I turn right...

Read more

The Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care in Nepal

by souhaib
June 17, 2021
0

Covid has reached the remotest parts of Nepal – including the mountain village of Barpak, which is home to many British Army Gurkha veterans and their families. For...

Read more
Next Post

A Saudi activist raises controversy in a video of her with her husband, naked in the bathtub!

No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Guitar Theory Revolution Reviews 2022
  • DANIEL JOHNSON : Rise of the Left, and blunders Down Under that Boris Johnson must learn from
  • NBA: Pumpkins to the Lakers: Former player Juwan Howard declines to be his coach
  • Curry’s Warriors beat Doncic’s Mavericks playing well for only one quarter | Sports
  • New York City under state of emergency over baby formula shortage

Browse by Category

  • Australia
  • Automotive
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Deals
  • Economie
  • Education
  • Euro
  • Forex
  • Gaming
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • NBA
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Sports
  • Switzerland
  • Trending
  • U.S.
  • Uncategorized

Categories

  • Australia
  • Automotive
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Deals
  • Economie
  • Education
  • Euro
  • Forex
  • Gaming
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • NBA
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Sports
  • Switzerland
  • Trending
  • U.S.
  • Uncategorized

Pages

  • Contact US
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

© 2021 - TrendsWide

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Contact US
  • Privacy Policy
  • Trending
  • U.S.
  • Economie
  • Deals
  • Reviews
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • NBA

© 2021 - TrendsWide

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.