Christian Wade could have been an international superstar in rugby, says Ugo Monye

Coaches have inhibited Christian Wade from reaching rugby superstardom, according to former Harlequins and England wing Ugo Monge.
The Wasps back is set to quit the sport to try and make it in the NFL playing American football after winning just one England cap in a seven-year club career.
In that time the short-in-stature 27-year-old has racked up 82 tries which sees him place third all-time in the Premiership. A feat which has left Monye puzzled at the lack of international recognition for the Wasps flier.
“I could only dream of doing the stuff Christian Wade can do,” said Monye on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
“I blame coaches who haven’t given him the chance or not up-skilled him. He is a potential international superstar.”
The average annual salary of an NFL player is £1.6m and with an American girlfriend, Monye added Wade has reasons that go beyond fulfilling his talent with a move Stateside.
“You can’t put a price on happiness and, at age of 27, I think he is looking at how he can fulfil his life a bit better,”
“I am frustrated that he has not got more out of rugby – he is an incredibly gifted ball runner. I don’t know why we don’t look at the stuff people can offer rather than what they can’t.
“And if players can’t do it, then coach them, because Christian Wade is coachable.”
Recent rugby players to have successfully converted to American football include former Worcester Warriors lock Christian Scotland-Williams, who plays tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and ex-England 7s forward Alex Gray, who plays the same position for the Atlanta Falcons.
Though not an established international rugby player, the scale of Wade’s new pursuit from the comfort of being a Wasps legend is a considerable career move.
From the draft system which offers a conveyor belt of young, emerging players to the NFL, there are 129 colleges with each college boasting an average of 110 players.