Carlin Isles - the quickest 7s Player?

Caught this on the Espnscrum rugby website - apparently the States have a new boy wonder who hasn't been playing very long but is a bi quick. He's allegedly in the top 40 US sprinters so he is a bit rapid. PB of 10.13 secs for the 100m I don't think he'll trouble any of the big sides but hey, he's fun to watch!

Love the way he runs round the Tongan back line in this clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA5bwqVN5LM

He troubled the NZ 7s team a fair bit. Doesn't have to a good full on tackler, just let them get behind and fall on them! He is the fastest rugby player in any code.


Surprised no NFL team tried to look at him given his height, speed combo. He is easily 6 foot. Runs the 40 yard dash in a better time than any player in the NFL currently apparently,

Reminds me of Martin Offiah in his pomp for widnes and Wigan.
Everyone knew he was going to take them on the outside but they couldn't do anything about it!

This guy looks even faster though.

Reminds me very much of myself in my prime (ok, I am white but beyond that the similarities are astounding)
Loved the bit where he gave the ball to the ref out of niavety so that he could take the conversion
If he plays in the Olympics, he will get noticed by the NFL scouts all right.

That first try was amazingly quick, the ones against NZ and SA were impressive as well. Like the fact that he always looks to get under the posts too.

And the commentator said that he only took up the game for the first time a few weeks before!!!

He's mentioned in this week's Rugby Paper. Easily the quickest rugby player. He intends to work hard to learn as much about the game as he can, so might develop into a very good winger.

He'll be off to France soon then if he does decide to do 15's. Hopefully he'll choose to stay at the 7's though.

Thomond he's about 5'7" and 72 kgs. Great for 7s, potential for 15s, but NFL I'm not so sure.

His height is listed as 1.73 metres -- that's a tiny bit over 5' 8".

I think he'll be looking to always stay in the 7's, especially with the Olympics in the future.

He would be incredible in the slot in the NFL, is he really only 5'7? Looks a bit taller than that, wouldn't be a great downfield receiver, but with his speed he could be magnificient in the slot exploiting linebackers, Safeties and nickel cornerbacks.


I would give him a shot at training camp if I were a GM no harm like.

Watched that clips a few times in the last few weeks. What a talent. He is an example of the athletes in the US waiting to be discovered by rugby, or to discover it himself. I've always thought the potential of the US is scary.

Is this the first new quality player that has been lured to Rugby by the Olympic carrot. I think so!

He should stick to 7's until after Rio and see what's on the table after!

Good luck to him.

He's definitely a talented athlete but personally I'd love to see him stay in 7's. If he comes to XV's he'd have to spend a few years learning the game and bulking up (i.e. losing pace). Seven's suits him much better IMO.

king_carlos wrote:He's definitely a talented athlete but personally I'd love to see him stay in 7's. If he comes to XV's he'd have to spend a few years learning the game and bulking up (i.e. losing pace). Seven's suits him much better IMO.

Bulking up doesnt actually mean he'll lose pace though...most of the best sprinters are huge musclebound guys...look at Linford Christie, Maurice green, Atto Boldon, Tyson Gay, etc etc.

Its down to the coaching to ensure he puts on a bit of weight..(if thats actually required though i suspect it wouldnt be) and he doesnt lose his pace.

Ben Cohen always frustrated me for that...whilst he was never electric quick he was a quality winger and just put on so much bulk the wrong way and looked pedestrian. Blame the coaches for that.

Geordie,
I agree about Isles and about bulking up. And about Cohen, too.

Working with a lot of athletes I see the bulking up done the right way and also done the wrong way. Professionally, I specialise in knees and shoulders. I think its fair to say that approximately 50% of the athletes I see can trace some component or root cause of their injuries to improper training. And too much of training and exercise is dedicated to adding muscle mass.

The good news for Isles is that the Americans are far ahead of us in this regard, although the gap is decreasing. And their training methods permeate down lower in the schools and clubs across most sports. He would be in good hands.

As a Saints fan, Cohen was a bit frustrating for me, too. He always was quick and very powerful. And a very good player. But became too enamoured with his power and bulked up the wrong way. He became, in my mind, less nimble and possibly lost a step though it all. Almost a waste of talent.

Ah so you'll know about the ACL

I did that and the lateral and medial meniscus playing in a game...agony...

Its all good now though and back to squating 180kg