Rugby World UK – July 2019

43

PERRY

BAKER

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100 Best Players

Age 32 (29 June 1986) Position Sevens

W

ELCOME TO wedlock. A

broken jaw in Hamilton,

just a few weeks after

he got married, brought

a spell on the sidelines for Baker and

probably put paid to a hat-trick of World

Sevens Player of the Year awards.

The American scorched his way to 94

World Series tries across the previous

two seasons – despite missing the final

three rounds last year – and scored the

greatest solo sevens try in history with

his mesmerising escapology and winding

100-metre dash against Fiji in Las Vegas.

Although most renowned for his

‘wheels’, Baker is brilliantly elusive,

sometimes making defenders over-chase

by threatening an outside break and

then putting on the brakes, and a

spring-heeled ball-winner from restarts.

His chip-and-chase, position flexibility

and tackle technique – “I’m so quick to

get ready to go into contact that I can

hit in the wrong spot,” he told us with

refreshing candour last year – have all

developed, and you wonder just how

good he might have been had he had

a longer stab at it. The former American

Footballer only turned pro five years ago.

As it is, the man they call ‘Speedstick’

is still one of the most exciting players

on the planet. USA Sevens coach Mike

Friday says: “The big thing about Perry

is he wants to get better at all the things

he’s not good at, which is a trait shared

by box-office players in whatever sport.

That’s what Perry has grown into.”

Age 24 (26.1.95) Position Centre
If comparisons to Brian O’Driscoll
early in his career were a burden for
Ringrose, he carried it well. So well, in
fact, that his name already commands
instant respect in its own right.
At 24, the centre is one of the world’s
best attacking talents, possessing the
slick footwork required to skip through
traffic but also the pace synonymous
with exhilarating outside breaks.
He can score breathtaking tries and
often delivers when they are most
needed, as with the opportunistic

pounce from a chargedown by

Leinster in this year’s Pro14 final.

A superb chaser and catcher of high

balls, he likes to fly up fast in defence,

corralling opponents back towards his

forwards. Ireland defence coach Andy

Farrell says: “He’s got a feel for space.

He knows when to put the pedal down

and put pressure on at the right time.”

Central to champion sides at club and

Test level, his confidence has soared

and he’s able to ride bumps, like the

four-on-two he blew in the Heineken

Cup final. He’s growing into a leader.

44 GARRY RINGROSE
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