'Yeah, you made two kicks mate. That one and your ****ing last one'
When secondrows dare kick, it's typically met with ironic cheers from the crowd. It's implicitly understood that it's an area of the game that's generally off-limits to the 'piano shifters'.
Of course there have been notable exceptions, key among them Wallabies' great John Eales, who kicked 34 penalties and 31 conversions over 86 caps for Australia in the 1990s and the early noughties. The 6'7, 120kg Aussie famously came to be known as 'Mr Nobody', as nobody's perfect; due to his all-court game - kicking included - and this all years before skillful tight five players became a thing.
Exeter Chiefs, England and now British & Irish Lions lock Jonny Hill is among the latest generation of forwards to dabble in the art. He memorably booted the ball 50 metres down the pitch with a very respectable touch finder against Bristol back in April.
But England boss Eddie Jones is not a fan of the 27-year-old putting boot to ball and made it pretty clear in a typically abrupt phone call with the rising star.
"Nothing too weird to be honest," said Hill, when asked had he had any awkward exchanges with the notoriously irascible Australian. "He's always been very straightforward with me. I'm quite a simple bloke to be honest."
One conversation did stick out though.
"I kicked the ball against Bristol last year [Prior to above miracle in April]. It was like a grubber down the wing and I was like, yeah, that was a bad decision.
"He called me up and said 'How do you think you're going?' and I was like 'yeah, I made a kick at the weekend.'
"And he was like 'Yeah, you made two kicks mate. That one and your ****ing last one.
"I was like right. Roger that.
"And then I like kicked one three months after against Bristol [see video above]," said Hill. "These 50:22s, I'm loving it."
In fact it was Hill's fellow second row at Chiefs, teammate Will Witty, that won plaudits over the weekend after his dribbling of the ball led to a try.
'He [Will Witty] is so silky as well," joked Hill. "It's brilliant. He doesn't know what to do. He gets all embarrassed when they bring it up."
Jones may not enjoy them, but dare we say it little on a rugby pitch is more enjoyable than one of the 'grunts up fronts' executing the off-limits skill.
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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