Northern Edition

Select Edition

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

'Thank God he has left the league': Ojomoh names toughest opponent

(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Bath midfielder Max Ojomoh has admitted he is glad that Nathan Hughes has quit the Gallagher Premiership in favour of a likely switch to the Top League in Japan. The 21-year-old England prospect this week answered a variety of questions from fans during a short video interview posted on his club’s social media channels.

ADVERTISEMENT

Among the queries was a question via Instagram that wanted to know who was the best player that Ojomoh had ever played against. In reply, he said: “I’ll do someone who I was glad I never had to play against – and played with – and that was Nathan Hughes.

“Thank God he has left the league. He was huge and when we set up for set-piece defence or attack, knowing he was on our side and not on the other’s, it filled me with a lot of confidence.”

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

Hughes, the 31-year-old Fijian-born ex-England No8, arrived on loan at The Rec last January after slipping down the pecking order at Bristol. He made just seven Bath appearances, but Ojomoh was a teammate on five of those occasions, twice as the starting out-half and three more times at inside centre.

The expectation with Bristol having to trim their wage bill was that Hughes, a big-money recruit from Wasps in 2019, would try his hand in the French Top 14 next season. However, the trail with Clermont turned cold and the expectation now is that he will feature in the 2023 Top League in Japan.

Two other answers from Ojomoh also piqued the interest. Asked did he always want to follow in the footsteps of his dad – ex-England international Steve – and become a rugby player, he answered: “To be fair, a lot of the chat when I was younger got to me, saying I wouldn’t be as good as him. So it was always just trying to prove a point and he seems to have also enjoyed it as well. I know there is a pathway there.”

ADVERTISEMENT

As for naming his favourite all-time try, Ojomoh plumped for a score by Jason Robinson, another ex-England international, from 2001. “Jason Robinson, the Lions against Australia. He got it on the outside, a big shimmy, took it on the outside, ran into the corner, classic fist bump after.”

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
NB 45 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Nice bit if revisioniusm but that's all it is JW.


For your further education, I found the following breakdown of one prominent club's finances in the Top 14 [Clermont].


For Clermont (budget of €29.5 million for 2021-2022) :

- 20% from ticket sales

- 17% from the LNR (includes TV Rights, compensation from producing french internationals and other minor stuff)

- 5% from public collectivities (so you're looking at funds from the city of Clermont, the department of Puy-De-Dôme and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

- 4% from merchandising and events

- 3% from miscellaneous

- 51 % from sponsorships and partnerships. They've got 550 different partners. The main ones are CGI, Groupama, Limagrain/Jacquet, Omerin, Paprec, Renault and of course Michelin (not surprising since they're actually the founders of the club).


As you can see nothing comes from the FFR at all. The LNR is a separate entitiy to FFR and their aims frequently do not accord.


It is also why the European breakaway plotted by LNR and PR back in 2013 had nothing to do with the governing bodies of either England or France - and it most certainly did not have their blessing https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15331030/jean-pierre-lux-anglo-french-cup-detrimental-european-rugby


And from the horse's mouth [ex AB skipper Sean Fitapatrick] about the comp between Top 14 and Super Rugby:


"The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out.”


“I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”

Take it from someone who knows JW😅

293 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING The appointment I would make to save Steve Borthwick – Andy Goode The appointment I would make to save Steve Borthwick – Andy Goode
Search