5 Hugely Hyped Rugby Players Who Faded Away - Page 4 of 5 - Ruck

5 Hugely Hyped Rugby Players Who Faded Away

#4. Ben Atiga

There was a time when Atiga was seen as such a potent attacking weapon that British Lions coach Clive Woodward singled out the Aucklander as the man of whom he was most wary ahead of the 2005 tour to New Zealand.

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But despite the centre/fullback looking set for superstardom only played one test for the All Blacks, against Tonga in the 2003 Rugby World Cup after being called into the squad as an injury replacement for Ben Blair.

However, after struggling injury problems of his own, Atiga made the decision to take a break from professional rugby in 2008. He returned to rugby two years later and eventually joined Edinburgh in 2012 but was forced to retire two seasons later due to season due to joint disease.

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