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‘Belongs at the Rugby World Cup’: 49ers star shines in Super Bowl with goosey
By Finn Morton
The San Francisco 49ers fell painfully short of victory in Super Bowl LVIII after Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a memorable charge to glory in overtime.
But before all the confetti and jubilation of the Chiefs’ second consecutive Super Bowl crown, which included images of pop star Taylor Swift celebrating on the broadcast, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey risked stealing the show.
McCaffrey, who was crowned the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year earlier this week, stunned fans at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium with one of rugby’s most iconic attacking weapons.
With the match locked at 19-all in overtime, and with the 49ers parked just inside their own half on a 2nd & 6 play, McCaffrey made a telling burst on the back of a perfectly executed goose step.
The goose step, which is more affectionally known in rugby circles as a ‘goosey,’ aims to throw a defender off as the attacker momentarily changes the speed at which they are running.
It was made popular by Australian rugby legend David Campese.
McCaffrey, 27, was knocked out of bounds about 25 yards away from the endzone. It didn’t end in a score but that hasn’t stopped rugby fans from praising the American for the iconic manoeuvre.
On the back of McCaffrey’s heroics, the 49ers – let my second-year quarterback Brock Purdy – managed to take the lead with a field goal.
But the Kansas City Chiefs still had a chance to win it all. Then-two-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes could win another ring with a touchdown.
Mahomes overcame immense pressure to keep the game alive with a conversion on a 4th & 1 during their opening set of downs, and the momentum that generated carried the Chiefs down the field.
About three broadcast shots of Taylor Swift later, Mahomes made history with only a couple of seconds left on the clock by inspiring the Chiefs’ fourth Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Mahomes threw a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman Jr. The Chiefs are Super Bowl 58 champions after beating the 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
“Just the adversity we dealt with this year… I’ve just got to give God the glory, man,” Mahomes told NFL on Fox. “He challenged us to make us better.
“I’m proud of my guys, man, this is awesome. This is legendary.”
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Latest Comments
It’s Razor so Blackadder and Grace for starters. Although on second thoughts K Read looked in great shape on TV the other day.
Go to commentsGreat piece Nick, plenty to chew on. Loved this ‘biases’ line from Geoff, shows he is a thinker - “If you asked me for a shortlist of coaches who appealed to my biases, he would be on it.” I think Schmidt is towing a similar line to Rennie in regards to OS players, he is publicly saying he prefers local talent, but almost certainly will be fighting to have the likes of skelton in the team. Interesting to hear the backroom on the rebels and what a cockup that is, just when you think RA admin has hit rock bottom it digs deeper. Other bit that caught my eye was his skills focus on things like passing from 7s at the base of the lineout, great little details. but also scary that a SR level 8 didn’t know how to operate within a lineout - telling!
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