'Horrible': Andy Goode reviews miss that will 'haunt' Marcus Smith
Ex-England international Andy Goode has reviewed the missed conversion from Marcus Smith that eliminated Harlequins from the Heineken Champions Cup last weekend. The Gallagher Premiership champions had the chance in the dying minutes to move ahead of Montpellier on the aggregate score in their round-of-16 clash, only for their star out-half to push his two-point kick off the tee wide of the target.
It resulted in Harlequins exiting the tournament by a point on the overall score despite winning on the day 33-20 and it ignited a difficult debate as Smith had otherwise been his team’s star player last Saturday.
The Rugby Pod have become the latest to give its view on the incredible finish where the missed kick from Smith became the headline from a match in which he had excelled until that point and Goode reckoned the miss will, unfortunately, haunt the 23-year-old for some time to come.
It was Jim Hamilton, the ex-Scotland international who co-hosts the show, who broached the subject of the missed Harlequins conversion by Smith after both pundits had agreed that the refereeing of Mike Adamson was yet again not up to sufficient standard.
“The big one for me out of that game is Marcus Smith’s kick,” said Hamilton, the former Montpellier second row who was delighted to see his old team squeeze through against Harlequins. “That was the easiest kick of the day for me. How has he missed that? Like, one point in it, four minutes to go, how has he missed that, a player of his quality? We’re talking about him now as one of the best tens in the world. How has he missed it?”
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“I don’t know is the answer,” replaced Goode. “It’s the first one he has missed all day. Did the pressure get to him? There was a bit of a snap hook on it. Even when you are watching it, the Quins fans are cheering because they think it has gone over and he has hooked it to the left, a massive shock, a massive surprise. He is a wonderful player, a wonderful talent. Goal-kicking has never been an issue for him but I am just trying to think about it, how many clutch kicks has he kicked in a game where you know that is the winning kick?
“You think back to other players who have done it, I don’t know. It is massive learning for him in terms of he bubbles confidence. It just comes out of him everywhere. Did he not take his time, did he not realise the severity of the kick, did he just try and rush it because it was on the 15-metre line on the right-side [the left] for a right-footed kicker in terms of the better side? I don’t know.
“Really tough and I have been there, I have missed kicks like that where you think it is just going over without a shadow of a doubt and it will be one that will haunt him for a long time, unfortunately. He will get back on the horse. He is pretty confident about what he has done and how he is playing but ultimately it has cost them dearly.
“It’s horrible,” continued Goode when asked what the aftermath would feel like for Smith. “You can go and train as much as you want, you can stick the ball down on the tee in that very same spot 100 times and he would get that probably 98 times, probably 99 times. Until he gets back onto the horse per se in a Quins shirt where he is goal-kicking again, you can go and practice until the cows come home.
“He didn’t have a bad kicking game, he had a really good game overall. (Joe) Marchant’s try he set up was just ludicrous from Danny Care keeping the ball in from Handre Pollard’s missed touch from the penalty to then Marcus Smith effectively chucking the ball in the air with a little dummy on the scissors and then just bamboozling everyone, gasing players and putting Joe Marchant away for a wonder try.
“He had a great game and he kicked everything else, so you can’t be too hard on him but some people will be and I saw some of the gifs or memes going around, whatever you call them, Owen Farrell just smiling at that, people are horrible.”
Hamilton agreed. “The headline out of that game is the Marcus Smith kick but how many games has he won them this season? And if he weren’t playing in that game they wouldn’t be anywhere near it because he is one of the best players on the pitch. I am only asking the question because it looked like such an easy kick and they are champions of the Prem… I just wonder why he missed it. I know it happens.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments