The Reds beat the Hurricanes 18-12 last weekend but a fluffed Liam Gill clearance kick could have changed the outcome of the game with time almost up. With that still fresh on the mind, here is a look at RugbyHQ's Top 5 clearance kick bloopers.
Young Gill looked to relieve the pressure as he gathered the ball after the Hurricanes had overthrown at the lineout. A massive, heroic touchfinder was clearly on his mind, but instead he shanked it, gifting the visitors another crack at the line.
"It was a real blunder. I thought I'd cost the boys the game and wasted all our hard work,'' said relieved flanker Gill, who will no doubt feature for the Wallabies later this year.
"I don't even kick left-footed. Greg Holmes and Jake Schatz were into me in the dressingrooms about the karate kicking. No problems there. I've retired the left foot.''
The sliced kick went to the dangerous Julian Savea, who brushed off a few defenders (including Gill) before offloading to Conrad Smith, who was finally brought down by the Reds cover. A few phases later Gill redeemed himself with a solid tackle that forced a turnover.
Sean Maloney has put together a look at five must see, classic clearance kicks gone wrong. We've also included some others in the Related Posts below for your perusal.
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