| The 2006/07 season was quite a year for When Nick Abendanon. When it started, a few pundits still weren’t sure how to pronounce his surname. By the end of it, he had won his first senior cap, coming on as a replacement in England’s second Test against South Africa, his country of birth.
The Johannesburg-born player, who made his way into the first team squad via Bath’s Academy, had scored a try against Leicester in Bath Rugby’s first home match in September, and it became apparent that this was a sign of things to come: he went on to score a total of ten tries in the season, including a hat-trick against Bristol in the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup. The Leicester try won the club’s Try of the Season Award, and was nominated for the same title in the Guinness Premiership awards, and Abendanon also walked away from Bath’s end-of-season awards dinner with the trophies for Top Tryscorer and Most Improved Player.
There is little doubt that Abendanon, who made his first-team debut in 2005/06, is an outstanding prospect. Aside from his nose for the tryline, he is quick, well-balanced, a strong tackler and safe under the high ball, and therefore has established himself as the first-choice full-back.
Having previously represented England U21s, Abendanon’s form in 2006/07 earnt him a call-up to the England Saxons squad for the RBS 6 Nations and Churchill Cup campaigns. But a man-of-the-match performance against Scotland A, in which he scored one try and set up another, duly led to his late call-up to the senior squad in South Africa. Furthermore, he was selected for the 47-man World Cup training squad in June but just missed out on being selected for the 30-man squad despite playing against France in a pre-tournament friendly.
Abendanon only officially graduated from the Academy at the end of the season, and has plenty still to learn. But he certainly has an exciting future ahead of him.
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