NORTHAMPTON — Christian Wade moved to 97 career Prem tries, just four behind Chris Ashton's all-time record of 101, after scoring twice for Newcastle Red Bulls in their 59-26 defeat at Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens on the opening weekend of the new Prem season. The veteran winger's double came amid a record-setting round that produced 52 tries across five matches, an average of more than 10 per game, with four players claiming hat-tricks.
The 35-year-old, whose tries have come for Wasps, Gloucester and now Newcastle, returned to rugby union last December after a short spell in rugby league with Wigan Warriors and had added only two tries last season as Newcastle struggled at the bottom. More than 15 years after his first Prem try for Wasps, Wade showed enduring speed at Franklin's Gardens. "Christian bounces across in front of people where they can't lay a finger on him," Red Bulls head coach Dan McFarland told BBC Sport. "He can accelerate through a hole and defenders find it very difficult to cope with that."
Wade's globetrotting career has also included spells with Racing 92 in the Top 14 and more than three years with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL without making the main squad, experience McFarland credits for his longevity. "Christian Wade is a proper professional," McFarland said. "He spent a few years in the NFL and he's clearly taken a lot from that experience in terms of how to look after himself and how to prepare himself as a rugby player." McFarland added Wade is a calming and connecting influence in the leadership group who gives time to young players: "He's a really good team man, he's got a lot of time for the young players. He's always calm, a calming and connecting influence."
Ashton leads the all-time list on 101, followed by Wade on 97, Tom Varndell on 92, Jonny May on 78, Mike Brown on 72, Matt Banahan on 71 and Paul Sackey on 69. Last season's top scorers Tommy Freeman of Northampton and Saracens teenager Noah Caluori both finished on 18, with Caluori scoring five tries in a match on two separate occasions against Sale Sharks. Freeman opened this campaign with a hat-trick in the same game as Wade's double to reach 58 career tries at age 25 after signing a new contract at Saints.
Ashton, with Wade the only player in the top 10 still actively playing, expects his mark to fall soon and then be extended quickly. "It's happening [the record being broken], but it's not going to last long, whoever takes it," Ashton told BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast. "I think it's going to be absolutely blown to smithereens." He added: "I sat there on Friday and watched Tommy run in another hat-trick and thought he's going to get 20 this year. Give him another five or six years at this rate that we're going, oh my goodness. He's 25 and he's on 58! By the age of 30, he'll have 100 plus." Ashton also noted: "Christian Wade is missing more tries per game than he is scoring tries but that probably shows where Newcastle's mindset is."