We know that Jamie Roberts is a tough cookie nowadays, but if this footage of an absolutely sickening clash of heads in his school days is anything to go by, it’s always been the case.
If there was ever a competition held to determine who has the squarest jaw in rugby, then Jamie Roberts would certainly be amongst the leading contenders to claim the top prize.
With a noggin that is a cross between the heads of Desperate Dan and The Thing from Fantastic Four, Roberts certainly has a firm head to go on top of the pretty firm frame he uses to devastating effect when crashing through opposition defences.
While he wasn’t quite as big as he is now in his school days, Roberts was still well put together, as one of his teammates from Glantaf School in Wales found out to his cost many years ago.
In the vintage clip below, which the folks from RugbyDump stumbled across in the last couple of days, Roberts, playing at full back, crashes into a teammate of his while both were approaching the ball in opposite directions while chasing a Garryowen.
The result, as you’ll see, is truly sickening, or at least it was for Roberts’ team-mate, who may or may not have lost a tooth in the collision judging by the slow-motion replay.
Roberts on the other hand, seemed a little shook if nothing more, which should serve as a warning to the Wallabies that he’ll be no soft touch when they face the Lions next month, if they didn’t know that already, of course.
Hat-tip to the lads at Rugby Dump and Dave Roberts on Twitter for this one
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