What marks sporting greatness?
Talent, obviously. You do not get through the door without it.
Longevity, absolutely. The ability to do it day after day, week after week should never be under-estimated.
And adaptability, the desire for self-improvement, whether physical or mental to adapt to changes in rules, opponents, conditions.
In Prem Rugby history, there have been few better than Christian Wade.
The Newcastle Red Bulls winger’s try against Sale means he has equalled Chris Ashton’s all-time record, with both men now sitting on 101 career tries in the competition.
A hat-trick away to Exeter Chiefs in their previous Prem fixture meant Wade became only the second player to reach a century of tries.
Now, the 35-year-old will have his chance to surpass Ashton and claim the record for himself when Newcastle head to Saracens next Saturday.
All this, over 15 years after scoring his first, and with spells in two other sports in that time means we are not in the company of an average sportsperson.
Ashton’s mark of 101 had stood for over three years.
And while the former England winger has regularly joked on television and radio about losing his record, Wade insisted that overtaking Ashton has not been on his mind.
“I sometimes feel the record is more important to other people than it is to me,” he said.
“I am someone who is going to score tries. That’s what I do. That’s what I love to do. But that is the result of the team performing well and us having great cohesion.
“My main focus is being in that system and executing what we’re trying to do. The better we can do, the more tries I’m going to score as a result.”
Wade’s first Prem try was for Wasps as a teenager in a defeat away to Exeter Chiefs in May 2011 in a side that included England World Cup winners Josh Lewsey and Simon Shaw.
It was the first of 82 for Wasps as he finished as the Prem’s leading try-scorer, either on his own or jointly, in three different seasons, 2012-13, 2016-17 and 2017-18, although a Prem title eluded him as Wasps were beaten in the final by Exeter at Twickenham in 2017.
But what is incredible about Wade’s assault on the record is that he had six years away as in 2018, he headed Stateside to NFL outfit Buffalo Bills as part of the International Player Pathway.
He played in pre-season and the Bills practice squad, but he never managed to play in a full NFL game and was released after three seasons in America.
The return to rugby union came via France and two seasons with Racing 92 in Paris, where he scored 10 tries before he was enticed back to the Prem by Gloucester.
There was just one season at Kingsholm with 11 Prem tries added to his tally which took him above ex-Sale Sharks and England man Mark Cueto and alongside his old Wasps team-mate Tom Varndell into joint second on the all-time list, nine adrift of Ashton.
Always keen to expand his horizons, Wade then headed into the 13-man code for a six-month spell with Wigan Warriors and another elite sporting environment.
