Christian Wade equals Chris Ashton's try record in the English Premiership

A record achievement in a winning match

Newcastle wing Christian Wade equalled the all-time English Premiership record for tries in the match against Sale, which his side won 17:9 on Friday. It was Newcastle's first league win of the current season. Wade caught up with Chris Ashton in the ninth minute of the second half at Kingston Park, running in down the right corner after good build-up work from his teammates — his sixth try of the season. He scored his first try in English rugby's top division more than 15 years ago, playing for Wasps.

The coach's assessment and the player's career

Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland spoke highly of the player: 'He is an energetic player and an energetic person. He knows how to find the try line, which is what all good wingers do,' he said after the match. According to the coach, late in the game Wade was already anticipating the chance to overtake Ashton, and McFarland expressed confidence that he would 'get there' to the record. At the same time, while the now-retired Ashton earned 44 caps for England, Wade — the only other player with a hundred tries in the Premiership — has just one: against Argentina in 2013. AFP notes that the career of the 35-year-old Wade, who stands 1.75 m tall, may have been affected by the fact that English rugby often preferred tall wingers, and perceptions of Wade's supposedly weak defensive play also hindered his international career.

A path through American football and rugby league

Wade scored the bulk of his tries over seven years at Wasps before leaving rugby union for American football in 2018. In 2019 he joined the Buffalo Bills and scored a touchdown in his very first pre-season game, but failed to make the main NFL roster and was released in April 2022. He then returned to rugby union at Parisian Racing 92, signed with Gloucester in 2024, then briefly played rugby league for Wigan, and in 2025 returned to union again, joining Newcastle. Wade himself reacted to the record with restraint: 'Sometimes it feels to me that the record matters more to other people than to me. I will score tries. That is what I do and what I love doing. But it is the result of good team play,' he said before the match. His contract with Newcastle is in its final year.