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'Horrible': Andy Goode reviews miss that will 'haunt' Marcus Smith

(Photo by Bob Bradford/CameraSport via Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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What the All Blacks squad could look like halfway through Super Rugby Pacific | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

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?”

“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.

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“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.”

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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.”

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Poorfour 930 days ago

It's the first clutch kick I can remember Smith missing. He's about a 75% kicker, and often misses the wide kicks when there's time left in the game, but he's normally at his best when a kick really matters.

Just to name a few: the kick to tie the semi-final last year, the one after Quins' final try in the Final (which was ultimately decisive) and the kick to win the game against the Boks in the autumn.

Will he be "haunted" by this? I doubt it. He's a very professional player and experienced beyond his years. He's a player who regularly tries things and when they don't come off has shown the ability to move on. But we'll see.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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