Wednesday 19 March 2014

Is Takudzwa Ngwenya’s international career with the USA finished?

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RugbyMag is reporting that the international career of Takudzwa Ngwenya, one of the quickest wingers in world rugby, may have come to an end.


Takudzwa Ngwenya has been one of the most notable American players over the last decade. The 28 year old Zimbabwean born flyer famously came to global prominence at the 2007 World Cup where he took the player of the tournament Bryan Habana on the outside and skinned him. Following that tournament he signed for Biarritz, who he has spent 7 seasons with scoring 69 tries. He has also continued to play for the USA, although of late his appearances for them have dried up, since Mike Tolkin took charge after the World Cup he has played just 5 times for the Eagles.
Video: Ngwenya's famous try at the 2007 World Cup  vs South Africa

When Ngwenya was left out of the squad in November, This Is American Rugby reported that he was "still very much in the Eagles plans moving forward". But after he is again absent from the squad to face Uruguay in the playoff the Americas 2 spot at the World Cup, Rugby Mag is reporting that relations between him and the national team have broken down and that "it's unlikely you will see Ngwenya in a USA jersey again" and "neither side seems interested anymore".
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Alex Goff: not a
fan of Ngwenya

If there is one that may offer hope to those who want to see Ngwenya back part of the American team at some stage, it is that the author of the article Alex Goff has a previous of being very harshly critical on his team's finisher. Just reading the article referenced it's obvious that Goff isn't much of a fan of "Zee" claiming "USA might be better off" without him (which is highly debatable), and this opprobrium shown to Ngwenya has been going on for months, mostly coming from the rather nebulous idea that he is supposedly "ignoring the gameplan". 

Some of Goff's criticism has been utterly ludicrous. In November he wrote "Ngwenya went off on his own game plan at times. The team as a whole seemed to think too much about setting Ngwenya up to score tries, and not enough about playing rugby as a group". Absolutely moronic logic. A better idea to put a crap winger who nobody wants to pass to is it then Alex? What next, dropping your best lineout jumper so the team don't "think too much" about throwing the ball to him and have to win lineouts "as a group"?

So given that Goff clearly does not like Ngwenya, there could be a slight chance that the article may have lost some accuracy as a result of that.

The reality is that whilst Ngwenya does have flaws and there are legitimate criticisms of him. But the Biarritz wing is a proven seasoned performer at a high level and the USA don't have a limitless stash of them, aged just 28 he could still have a fair amount to offer American rugby and it would be foolish for the USA to give up and ditch him for good.

It will be sad if we never see Ngwenya play international rugby again, he made his name in USA colours and the rugby pitch is certainly a more exciting place with him on it.
GIF: Was this Ngwenya's last try in his last match for USA?
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4 comments:

  1. Simon Cox20/3/14 8:39 am

    Lot's of valid points don't get me wrong BUT Goff also makes the important point in his latest article that Ngwenya has not returned the national team management's attempts to contact him, a HIGHLY RELEVANT peice of information you were aware of before you wrote this article yet decided (obviously deliberately to spin things your argument's way) to omit. Witholding relevant information you are aware of is unprofessional in my point of view. If you are going to do such an article you need to put all relevant info on the table not just that that suits you.

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  2. Beeman1520/3/14 3:59 pm

    I thought I covered that point under the more general sentence "Rugby Mag is reporting that relations between him and the national team have broken down" whilst also linking to the article in question. It genuinely wasn't an attempt to spin things, and I don't feel I "withheld" any information. Also bear in mind, I'm not paid to do write this, there's probably lots unprofessional about this site, that's because it's not professional.

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  3. Ryan24/3/14 4:09 pm

    "
    The reality is that whilst Ngwenya does have flaws and there are legitimate criticisms of him. But the Biarritz wing is a proven seasoned performer at a high level and the USA don't have a limitless stash of them..."
    Actually we do have a limitless stash of wings, in addition to back rows.
    If Ngwenya were a prop or halfback, we'd roll out the red carpet for him.

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  4. Beeman1524/3/14 4:47 pm

    Okay then. Name me the "stash of wings" who are seasoned performers at a high level ...

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