Patriots safety Nate Ebner got quite the welcome to international rugby on Friday when he took the field for the USA Eagles against France.
“Pick your man, Nate Ebner,” the announcer can be heard saying. “Don’t pick that one.”
Good advice, but hey hindsight’s 20-20. The US went on to lose, 19-17.
Ebner took a leave of absence from the Patriots to try to earn a spot on the US National Rugby Team at the Olympics.
More on some of his challenges from Singapore’s TODAY newspaper:
“I would say that rugby sevens training is one of the toughest I’ve ever had to go through,” Ebner told TODAY. “You don’t get better at it until you push yourself to the point of exhaustion, where instead of resting, you have to keep on working harder.
“When I’m training for the NFL, I’m used to a lot of heavy lifting, explosive movements and high-effort workouts. But these things are usually done for brief moments. So it’s not as taxing on your body as compared to the shock your nervous system gets (in sevens) when your cardiovascular system is pushed to the limit time and again.
“It takes a lot of getting used to, especially for the bigger guys. It’s not fun, but that’s the sacrifice you have to make if you want to play the game at a top level.”
