Monday 01st October 2007
Two scintillating tries in which he beat two of the most highly rated wingers in the world has ensured that European club scouts are lining up for the signature of United States flyer Takudzwa Ngwenya.
The 22-year-old Zimbabwean-born winger could soon be winging his way to English or French rugby, following his exploits at the World Cup tournament in France.
Having embarrassed Samoa and Leicester Tigers hardman Alesana Tuilagi during the US Eagles 21-25 loss to the Pacific Islanders last Wednesday, Ngwenya did the same to Springbok star Bryan Habana - arguably the world's top winger - in the Eagles' 15-64 defeat to South Africa in Pool A encounter on Sunday.
With those two performances the jet-heeled Ngwenya has ensured that agents line up for his signature, with two English clubs having already approached him.
And it is almost certain that the Dallas winger will complete a move to Europe - to either England or France - in the near future.
"Hopefully, we will see how it goes," said the softly-spoken Ngwenya.
"That's a killer question, England or France? It depends which team I'll be going to.
"It's hard to say now because I am not sure. But in England, so far I have got two [offers].
"It depends. I just want to play better rugby."
The duel between Ngwenya and Habana was always going to be a fascinating one, and it provided arguably the moment of the tournament in the first half of Sunday's clash in Montpellier.
Habana had just gone over in Ngwenya's corner to put South Africa 24-3 up when flanker Todd Clever intercepted inside the Eagles' 22.
Via Mike Hercus, the ball ended up in the hands of Ngwenya, who found himself one on one with Habana.
Ngwenya teased his opposite number by feinting inside, before dabbing on the accelerator and flying past Habana on the outside to ground under the posts.
It brought the crowd to their feet and was probably the try of the World Cup so far.
As Ngwenya celebrated with his team-mates, Habana remained on the floor, his head buried face-first into the ground knowing his reputation had been slightly marred by the US ace.
"I was thinking of kicking, but then I thought I would try and get him to stop, and then gas him out wide," recalled Ngwenya.
"And he did stop. It's not that I'm fast, I just got him to stop so that worked pretty well."
He added: "I knew he would be annoyed. If I got beaten by a slower person, I'd be annoyed.
"He is a great winger, the best in the world I think."
Ngwenya had done a similar job on Tuilagi last week in the Eagles' defeat to Samoa in St Etienne, when he cut inside and handed off the Tigers juggernaut before sprinting to the line.
It was a moment to savour for the US winger, but he bettered it on Sunday.
"He [Habana] is the best winger in the world," he repeated. "I was intimidated every time he got the ball.
"If you look at the video or saw the game live, I was just yelling 'come on, come on'.
"I was intimidated. I didn't want to leave him one on one with me - and luckily I didn't."
Habana went on to touch down a second time, taking him to six tries in the tournament, before he was replaced after a clash of heads with Ngwenya.
The American remained on the pitch, and - in a sense - won another battle.
Asked what Habana had said when the two sprinters embraced at the final whistle, Ngwenya added: "He just said, 'nice job', and 'sorry about the bump'."
Departing US coach Peter Thorburn must have been referring to Ngwenya when he said after the game: "A lot of my players are excellent, they just need good exposure.
"There are some pretty good players out there. Only two backs play professionally. So it's a pretty good effort from a bunch of amateurs.
"But it's a difficult situation for us. The more players that go away to play, that fact they are in Europe means they are away for 10 months of the year.
"That makes them unavailable for the American-based competitions, like the Churchill Cup.
"The clubs will not want to release them because they are paying their wages.
"The ideal is to get them over for short period of time, in concentrated situations, and to have them available for the American competitions."
Thorburn and the Eagles return home with four defeats, but they were not disgraced in any of their games.
They suffered narrow losses to England, Tonga and Samoa before succumbing to the Springboks.
It was a tough group, but Thorburn insists that only by playing the best in the world can the US improve.
"The IRB does do well for the tier-two nations, but it will never be enough. It's like social welfare - there will never be enough money," he said.
"We would like to have harder games, it's the only way we will get better."
And to those high-ranking officials contemplating trimming the World Cup down from 20 to 16 teams.
Thorburn said: "This was the biggest game many of my players will ever play in.
"How do teams like the USA, Georgia, Namibia and Portugal aim for the next World Cup if they are ruled out it?"
No comments:
Post a Comment