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'Complete brain fade': Crazy in-goal pass ends in disaster for Stormers
Just when you think you’ve seen it all in rugby, the game surprises with something new.
In the Champions Cup clash between the Stormers against Sale, winger Leolin Zas went from hero to zero after his audacious in-goal offload went pear-shaped.
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In the first half the Stormers flyer scored a try on a scything run straight through the Sale midfield under the posts on the way to a 21-7 first half lead.
In the second he added a long range strike combining with Hacjivah Dayimani for a return pass inside.
The Stormers were in cruise control after Zas’ double with a 31-17 lead with 10 minutes to go before the calamitous error.
The left winger momentarily saved a try by intercepting an offload metres from the try line whilst backtracking in cover.
However, Zas inexplicably tried to throw an offload in-goal which got stuck in his hand longer than expected.
The ball circled back over Zas’ head and straight into the arms of Sale midfielder Sam Bedlow who was attempting to tackle Zas. Bedlow flopped to the ground immediately to bag the try and put Sale within touching distance.
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Fortunately for Zas, the Stormers held on for a 31-24 win as the visitors couldn’t muster a try to level proceedings but Sale did escape with a losing bonus point as a result.
???? ???? ?? ???? ??????????! 🤯
A rare Leolin Zas mishap has given @SaleSharksRugby a glimmer of hope! #InvestecChampionsCup #STOvSAL pic.twitter.com/aJ2pDkyCuA
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 13, 2024
What on earth is Leolin Zas doing there?!
That’s a complete brain fade.
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) January 13, 2024
What in the name of all that is unholy was Leolin Zas doing there??? He has been the Stormers best player alongside Hacjivah Dayimani. Now that “own” try cost him the co-man-of-the-match.
— LockedDownSpectator (@LockedDownSpect) January 13, 2024
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Leolin Zas WTF are you doing?😂😂😂
— Sgananda (@Mpumelelo_Zondi) January 13, 2024
The play likely cost Zas the man-on-the-match award with teammate and No 8 Hacjivah Dayimani taking the spoils instead.
The Stormers took a bonus point win which leaves them third in the pool behind undefeated pair Leinster and Leicester.
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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