Abysmal goalkicking display on Saturday night harks back to 2011 World Cup absurdity
Mitch Hunt was a prominent figure in the Highlanders’ shock win over the Crusaders last weekend, but the first five couldn’t weave the same kind of magic against the Chiefs on Saturday night.
While the former Crusaders was reliable on attack, chalking up 70 metres with the ball in hand, he also left a considerable number of points on the field through missed shots at goal.
The signs weren’t great early on, with Hunt missing his first penalty attempt – a relatively straightforward effort from in front – in the second minute of the match.
He missed two further shots in the first half, ultimately leaving eight points unconverted.
While the Highlanders went into the break five points short of the visiting Chiefs, they could have been 13-10 up if Hunt’s radar had been on song.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half, with Hunt missing his first attempt on the posts following an early Aaron Smith try.
It wasn’t until the 53rd minute of the match that the Highlanders No 10 was able to land his first successful kick, nailing a fairly regulation shot – and it was to be Hunt’s last attempt of the night with one-test All Black Josh Ioane then joining the fray and taking over the kicking duties.
Highlanders coach Tony Brown lamented the missed opportunities after the match but suggested there were plenty more areas where his team needed to improve.
“[It was] poor from the boys,” he said. “But sometimes you have those days. Mitch kicked everything last week and missed everything tonight.
“We just didn’t quite play at the right intensity, we were soft in a few areas of the game, we just didn’t quite play as well as we did last week. We couldn’t prepare ourselves to reach that same intensity, which meant that our game suffered.”
There were 23 penalties whistled up on Saturday night. Who's to blame for the stop-start affair? #SuperRugbyAotearoa #HIGvCHIhttps://t.co/8yeHLhL6GY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021
Hunt wasn’t the only player to struggle off the tee, however.
Damian McKenzie, one of the more accurate kickers in New Zealand rugby, also had his fair share of misses, landing six of his nine attempts.
Admittedly, two of those kicks were taken from the 50-metre line. Your Jordie Barretts and David Havilis may not struggle with such lengthy shots, but it proved slightly beyond McKenzie’s abilities – although he still had the distance in him.
Played under the roof, there was little wind or weather conditions to contend with, making the poor kicking showing all the more perplexing.
In some ways, it was reminiscent of the 2011 Rugby World Cup when the likes of Martin Rodriguez and Jonny Wilkinson struggled under the roof in England’s narrow victory over Argentina. The two normally reliable kickers missed five penalty attempts each, with England eventually prevailing 13-9.
A week later, Toby Flood had no issues kicking in Dunedin but Georgia’s Merab Kvirikashvili had a case of the yips, landing just one of his six penalty attempts.
Romania’s D?nu? Dumbrav? was the unlucky man the following week, knocking over just one of his four kicks.
Come the end of the tournament, just eight penalty attempts were landed at Forsyth Barr Stadium from 26 attempts.
The kickers weren’t quite as poor as that on Saturday night, but the game would have unfurled completely differently if either Hunt or McKenzie had better accuracy on the night.
Ultimately, the Chiefs won by just three points, after McKenzie nailed a penalty in extra time to secure the game.
The victory keeps the Chiefs in the hunt for a finals spot while the Highlanders are now all but out of the reckoning.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments