OPINION: A team’s kicking will win or lose them the game

Imagine buying a ticket to watch the team you have supported your whole life play against their biggest rivals.

You fight through traffic to arrive well before kick-off, spend your hard-earned cash on food and drinks with your family and friends as you gear yourselves up for a great time.

The game lives up to the hype from the first whistle and it is clear both sides are up for the challenge.

The teams score great tries in front of the sold-out crowd, and you and your dearest cheer on every driving maul, applaud every strong carry and wear your hearts on your sleeves as the lead changes repeatedly.

The opposition have played well but your team never give up. They have in fact clawed their way back near the death and score a sensational try.

With one minute to go, all your team’s kicker has to do is put a relatively easy conversion between the posts for the victory.

He misses.

It takes a few minutes for it all to sink in. You head home with your family in silence, through the traffic, again, feeling a perfect day has been ruined by one mistake.

A dependable kicker is a must

This is what happened in the nail-biting north-south derby between the Stormers and Bulls at Cape Town Stadium last weekend.

Clayton Blommetjies missed the “easy” kick at the death, which allowed the Bulls to come away with a rare win in Cape Town.

He, however, was not the only one to miss kicks during the game; David Kriel and Jurie Matthee were also somewhat wayward off the tee. The one that seemingly mattered more and which we remember though is Blommetjies’ miss.

A dependable kicker nowadays is a must. There’s just too much at stake.

Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard has long shown consistency in his kicking and the national side always seem weaker when he is not in the team, as it was with Percy Montgomery and Morne Steyn before him.

Pollard showed South Africans how he is not to be taken for granted when he earned man of the match for Leicester Tigers when they thumped the Sharks 56–17 in the Champions Cup in December.

And who can forget his 13 from 13 in four matches at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, three of which were won by a single point.

The Stormers were taught a hard lesson in their narrow 33-32 defeat to the Bulls, who could just as easily be ruing their missed shots, this last weekend. The takeaway is to ensure it doesn’t happen again. In fact, having a reliable kicker in your team should be top priority for every professional rugby side.