Does Rugby have a Superstar?
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Agree with MR, Tupou is a classic case. A prop with ball skills and running ability. All the tools to be must-watch
Gives up penalties and isn't fit enough so rugby people have written him off as a bit-part player
Perhaps the rules are to blame.
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The other thing to consider is
It's almost impossible to keep the ball away from Messi in a soccer game, or a star NBA player
In rugby teams can plan to keep the ball away from star players.
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Both Jordan and Dupont have an excellent opportunity to be the Men of the Tournament
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@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Perhaps the rules are to blame.
Definitely are a barrier. Superstars tend to transcend beyond just the fans of the individual sport, where the average Joe can see something and go, “wow”.
When they don’t know what is happening so much, that isn’t always an easy follow (like a Messi or Ronaldo goal, an MJ or Lebron drive and dunk, a Buddy Franklin run down the wing and 50m goal)
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@Mr-Fish said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
As a lot of people have already said, rugby's a very hard sport to become a superstar in, simply because your performance is generally so dependent on how well your teammates play. There are certainly a couple of guys who buck that trend (Ardie Savea is one current example) but it's still more difficult to stake a claim as a superstar in rugby than in many other sports.
I also think it's debatable whether anyone can truly be a superstar unless they're known outside of core rugby nations. Yes, Tindall married into the royal family and Dan Carter was loved by all and sundry, but how much appeal did these guys have outside New Zealand, England etc?
I think the only way a rugby player is going to be able to rise to the heights of a superstar now is by being instantly recognisable - people have to take note of them simply by seeing them. Carter is just a fairly normal looking bloke. If you didn't already know who he was, no one in the streets is going to give him a second glance.
Perhaps someone like Posolo Tuilagi could be the next superstar? He's a talented player, a big unit, and comes from a well-known rugby family so there's a pretty interesting story there to build around.
Steady on there Zoolander……
I know a number of women and also some blokes who would vehemently dispute that.
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Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
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@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
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@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
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I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet Handré Pollard, currently the best paid player in the world, or Owen Farrell, currently the second best paid player in the world.
Super tight modern defences and censorious officiating have put a premium on hard-tackling, goalkickers above spectacular, charismatic try-scorers.
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@nostrildamus said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
David Beckham? He's a footballer. Or was.
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@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@nostrildamus said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
David Beckham? He's a footballer. Or was.
Dan Carter. But she knows Beckham because of the phrase and the movie.
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@nostrildamus Not his underwear modelling then?
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@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Met a pommy bird in a bar about 13 years ago in thailand and when she found out im from nz she went on to tell me a story,
A girl at her work used to brag she is good friends with an All Black and would introduce her , she was all excited visualising a Dan Carter type,
When she got to meet him she was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed,
I asked do you know his name ? she said Anton Oliver
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Guys like TT can certainly become cult figures and very recognisable but superstars? I just can't see him being the face of anything other than maybe KFC or MacDonalds.
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Out of interest and aside from rugby - has New Zealand ever had a sporting superstar? Someone who couldn't walk down the street in multiple countries.
I see Israel Adesanya is by far the most popular on social media - ahead of Little Kane - who probably can't walk down the street in India.
Sir Ed is probably the most famous ever in terms of name recognition, but most people outside NZ probably wouldn't have recognized him. I guess he was probably massive in 1953.
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@Chris-B said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
I see Israel Adesanya is by far the most popular on social media - ahead of Little Kane - who probably can't walk down the street in India.
Google trends is another way of judging that too
Adesanya in blue, Kane in red, worldwide searches in the last 5 years
Or by region who has more searches
I suspect no NZ sportsman would come close
The All Blacks as a team beat him
