Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Lealiifano could extend Ulster stay

Christian Lealiifano is on loan at Ulster from Brumbies

Australia international Christian Lealiifano is not ruling out extending his Ulster stay beyond January.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lealiifano joined from Brumbies on a short-term deal in August and is due to head back to the Super Rugby side in early 2018.

The fly-half, who was diagnosed with leukaemia last year but returned to the sport in July after revealing he was in remission, is yet to fully consider remaining at the Irish province longer than initially planned, but suggested he would be open to it.

“I can’t look too far ahead. I’ll go until the end of January and do the best I can,” Lealiifano told BBC Sport.

“I think the most important thing is to help this team perform and help the other young guys that are in the Ulster set-up, to be able to groom them to be able to step up, that’s sort of been my main goal. If something happens down the track, you definitely can’t rule that out.

“I don’t know how realistic [staying is], I haven’t really explored it at the moment. Obviously, a lot of the fans and people have been in my ear to try and get me to stay. I’m really enjoying it so far and we’ve just got to stay with each week.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
Nickers 25 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

41 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose star midfielder Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
Search