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Thursday, March 27, 2008

A young Vincent Clerc smashed by Jonah Lomu in 2003

A young Vincent Clerc smashed by Jonah Lomu

Long before Vincent Clerc was the star French winger that he is today, he was a small, rather funny looking quick guy with a goofy scrum cap. That's how he appeared to some anyway.

Today he's a try scoring machine with all the finesse and flair of French wingers of the past. Back in 2003, in only his second test for his country against the mighty All Blacks, it was a baptism of fire as he was up against the most feared runner in the game. That's right, Jonah Lomu.

A bit of a miss match to say the least.

It wasn't on defence that 5ft10 Clerc struggled on this occasion though, it was with ball in hand. Clerc made the silly mistake of not kicking, or passing, straight away.

Lomu was never known for his huge defensive capabilities, but when it's a huge guy up against a small man, there's only going to be one result.

Posted at 9:21 am | 24 comments

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Posted in Big Hits & Dirty Play

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Viewing 24 comments

rolando March 27, 2008 9:53 am

that missed kick could have brought a serious injury with it..!! should have gotten it away as quickly as he could! great hit by lomu

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Sander March 27, 2008 10:57 am

The way he looked back then, reminded me of a LEGO doll.The first time I saw him, I though he was a goofball, but he made some good impressions back then.Small guy, but very hard to bring down, and not short of guts.And look at the player he is today!

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Nick March 27, 2008 11:42 am

At least the tackle looked really impressive :)Clerc otherwise is a great player! Great World Cup and 6n...

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mo14k March 27, 2008 12:09 pm

I wonder if Clerc would get tackled like that these days... hes grown and unconsiderable amount of strength now for his size!!

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1up March 27, 2008 1:17 pm

"clerc" vs. "jonah lomu arm" = 0:1

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Cheyanqu March 27, 2008 2:01 pm

That hit was right out of Peking Opera.Jackie Chan would be proud.

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David March 27, 2008 3:24 pm

wow he looks different. of all the guys to get hit by, come on...Jonah? :D

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Eric March 27, 2008 4:02 pm

Even wingers the size of clerc have bulked up these days... Never ceases to impress me

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Jyb March 27, 2008 7:43 pm

haha silly boy

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Don March 27, 2008 7:52 pm

I'd hardly call that a smash

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angus March 27, 2008 9:02 pm

I was going to meet Jonah, at a rugby camp thing, but he coundt make it.

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angus March 27, 2008 9:02 pm

I was going to meet Jonah, at a rugby camp thing, but he coundt make it.

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G-unit March 27, 2008 10:13 pm

haha! That's awesome! silly french fulla, not kicking...i remember jonah coming to training one night, when he was in the all blacks, and he was monstrous, and to know he could run and destroy, i would of hated to defend or attack against him! long hail the Jonah clips, love them all...

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G-unit March 27, 2008 10:15 pm

p.s: why is a winger wearing a scrum cap? i've never understood that? is he going to fill in at lock? if one of the 2m tall guys, gets injured? avoid cauliflower ears? or is it some kind of fashion statement? I'm glad backs stopped wearing these...

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James March 28, 2008 11:34 am

"p.s: why is a winger wearing a scrum cap? "i know what you mean, i'm always confused when backs wear scrum caps, probably because they're all scared off getting their faces dirty

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PZ March 28, 2008 1:55 pm

When I saw this post I thought Clerc vs Lomu? This is going to be messy. But, to be fair to Clerc it wasn't really a massive smash. He went to kick the ball and got knocked off balance by Lomu.

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bob March 28, 2008 3:43 pm

would it be a scrum or lineout.

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Anonymous March 29, 2008 10:13 pm

haha clerc deserves to get hit harder next time hes an overrated arrogant playeryou want true legends??try shane williams and jason robinsonvincent clerc sucks!!!!!

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Anonymous March 30, 2008 12:53 am

he doesnt suck but hes definately overated.....rougerie is far better

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Hamish M March 31, 2008 2:30 pm

Surely it should have been a scrum. Went to kick it (ball goes forwards out of his hands), misses it with his feet and the ball lands in front of where it left his hands. I'd say it went forwards before going into touch.

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Anonymous April 01, 2008 7:45 pm

im another hater of clercdefinately one of the most overated players in the worldimagine if lomu just ran into him instead of just his armclerc=broken frenchman

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Anonymous April 03, 2008 10:59 am

it's funny 'cos he's french

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Anonymous July 16, 2008 9:07 pm

What brave people you are just above, besides, talk a little bit about rugby considering you don't really know anything about it obviously. But I can't blame you, can I? You prefer less intellectual sports for your brain I suppose? Give up rugby guys, too sophisticated for you I'm afraid...

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douglas mason July 20, 2008 8:32 pm

first can i say the guy above me is a c**ti mean who talks like that???anyway good hitbut most players would have ended up the same as clerc if lomu was coming

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