By Richie the Rhino (on 07/08/02)
August 7 2002

The Commonwealth Games Sevens is over. A tournament, which was, as we all know, free of Leeds Tykes players. The nearest we could manage was the inclusion of Leeds Rhinos RL winger Marcus St Hilaire. The inclusion of St Hilaire provoked much media interest. St Hilaire effectively came out of nowhere to be included, first in the training squads, and finally in the Games’ team itself. Much excitement was raised at his inclusion. A good deal of interest was expressed amongst the Tykes fans - if St Hilaire was such a good RU prospect, why wasn't he in the Tykes squad for the next season, especially as Rhinos are willing to release him? Some fans expressed reservations about his game, particularly his alleged weakness under the high ball, nevertheless, we were all poised for a spectacular entrance into the world of Rugby Union by another exciting League runner.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen for Marcus, he was used sparingly and looked ill at ease when he did appear. His games adventure never really got going. It is another good example of how difficult it can be to switch from one code to another. Incidentally, Henry Paul had a good Games, but he has been learning the game for some time and has been part of Joe Lydon’s squad for the majority of the IRB World Sevens Series.

After the event, Joe Lydon was quoted as saying that the idea was that the players learnt from the experience of the Games, returned to their clubs enriched with new skills.

If this is the case, given that Marcus was never really used, then what benefit for anyone, English RU especially, was there in him being picked at all? Surely it would have been a better idea to send a young, talented, pacy back-three RU player, who made a dramatic impact on the Zurich Premiership during the last season. Anybody spring to mind – a certain Tykes winger perhaps?