The fastest man in world rugby, the hot property of sevens. Kiwi, Aussie, Springbok? American. Somehow doesn't seem right but Carlin Isles has been setting the world of sevens alight with his performances. An ex-sprinter, who reportedly had a personal best of 10.13 seconds over 100 metres. Only half a second shy of Bolt's current record. He burst onto the scene when this video went viral, at the time of the video he had only been playing rugby a matter of weeks. His knowledge of the game was not complete never mind his skill set, but his raw speed showed him the way to the line on several occasions. The reason he is playing sevens is because he wants to compete in the Olympic games in Brazil after not making the grade as an Olympic level sprinter. Still only half a second behind Bolt, but those are the margins that sport is fought at, he is the 35th fastest American. However, not one of the 34 ahead of him have picked up a rugby ball.
So why not take a punt on Carlin Isles, he could yet even represent the USA XV a side at the world cup in 2015 and the sevens side in 2016, not losing out on his dream but enhancing it. Rumours were circulating over the Summer that Toulon were interested in signing the American gas-man. Which would have left them with the enviable wing combination of Isles and Habana, one is nigh on Olympic standard and the other trains with a cheetah. Habana is a cultured winger having played international rugby for almost ten years and is soon to hit 100 caps for South Africa. He is a solid defender as well as a devastating finisher. This is the problem with Isles, he turns 24 next month, which means the years where it is easy to train someone in a particular way are long passed, making his step up to rugby union more problematic. Toulon of course can afford the risk, they are one of the worlds richest clubs and if it doesn't come off and he cannot develop his game to be able to defend well enough, then they've lost very little. The rugby culture in France means that like in football they will probably get a windfall on his wages by the amount of shirts he will sell.
It is a no brainer for Toulon to try and train this rough diamond. Of course this is all fairly harsh on Isles, he is an outstanding winger and has qualities of his own, he could bring fresh sprint styles to the team and improve the pace of most wingers, given his track background. This may seem a wild suggestion, but we have seen it in football, Bolt has trained Cristiano Ronaldo on several occasions, and the shy and retiring Bolt claims credit for his dramatic rise in the last few years. So that is another part of what Isles offers teams.
Such as it is a no brainer for Toulon, it is less so for other sides. Teams that don't have the money or infrastructure to risk on a player, who lets face it could be poor in the XVs game. The RaboDirect Pro12 clubs for example, have very little funding already can they risk a large wage being a poor investment. The smaller French and English clubs are fighting against relegation and need everyone playing well to avoid the drop. So he's possibly not viable for them either.
But, the devil inside everyone now says, if they were brave, if they took a chance, what a player he could turn out to be. All he needs is an inch of space and raw talent will take him to the line. At the moment it looks like Isles wants to finish this season in sevens and decide his future then, I for one hope someone takes a punt on the United States speedster.
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