The Pass
by Ben Darwin | 25 February 2010 (09:28)
It is really important to understand that in the game of rugby, at times inexplicable stuff just happens on the field. Often there is no rhyme or reason for it and the players and coaches simply have to shake their heads and understand that there is no point naming names or assigning blame. And believe me, unless you are in that situation yourself and seeing things from that particular angle, then it cannot be for us to judge the actions of another. We can only try to understand why these very odd things happen from time to time.
In my time as a rugby coach I have seen some very unfathomable plays occur during games but none more than what I am about to share with you. I asked a lot of the guys I have played with, whether or not they had seen anything like it before and all gave the same response – a resounding “No!” I refer to this incident that occurred in the Japanese national competition.
For those unable to see the video, during a game against the team I coach, an extremely talented and young university 15 made a superb run down the left flank and crossed the try line to score a try that would have put his team more than 7 points up.
He was 10 meters over the try line and instead of simply putting the ball down; he passes the ball to a player who was in a better position for the conversion placement. Yet this player was unaware of the impending pass and missed the catch completely, only for an opposition prop (having meandered his way back) to flop onto the ball. The try was rendered disallowed.
With the commentators, crowd and players all in shock, the game finished with the poor player’s team losing and the tears ensued. There is no doubt he will become a decidedly better player for the experience but I am still having difficulty comprehending his split second decision.
I can only decipher it like this. As he is a good a player, he was doing something usually so easy for him to complete, that he regarded it as a simple skill. The difficult part probably came in that his teammates were not on the same page and so disaster followed.
The other notion is that the moment simply got to him. Speaking with other front rowers who rarely score just one try, it is easy to become flummoxed by reaching the try line. It is just not something we dare go over in our heads and so the thought “What do I do? What do I do?“ races through our minds. In such cases of extreme stress and attention people do very strange things. Though this guy was a 15, maybe the moment got to him.
One thing is for sure though, next time he reaches the try line he will put the ball down right away.
