Lightning fast Carlin Isles turns rugby into a non-contact sport
RUGBY Union is no longer a contact sport. Well, not when Carlin Isles is playing it. Isles is the 40th fastest man in America. Here is is playing in the rugby sevens against the French. France are playing rugby. Isles might not be. He might just be playing baton ball or leg it or, if, like with Rugby, we going to name it after a school, Lancing.
The true test, of course, is how he plays the 15-a-side game. Less space means more chance of his being squashed. But then can you sit on something so slippery?
(Oh, and it’s not that Isles is necessarily any good at rugby…that remains to be seen. But the combination of speed and size that he brings to the game is a disruptive innovation and opposing teams will have to change the way they play when he’s on the field.)
Update: Like I said, it remains to be seen whether or not Isles has a big impact on rugby, but Jonah Lomu was a star rugby player who had a long-lasting influence on the game:
Lomu in his prime was not quite as fast as Isles (10.13s vs 10.8s in the 100 meters) but at 6’5″ and 276 lbs, he had a brutal combination of pace and size. (via@dan_connolly)
Posted: 1st, February 2013 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
