Mon 16 Mar 2015 | 08:41
Jonathan Davies sends Johnny Sexton to the turf with a powerful hand-off

9
Comments

Wales kept their Championship hopes alive as they beat Ireland in a Six Nations classic. The game was a close fought and extremely physical affair with the home side putting in a masterclass in defence, but early on it was the Welsh attack that shocked Ireland the most.

Within the first five minutes some quick ball was accompanied by a skilful pass from Dan Biggar and just like that, Wales were on attack and Jonathan Davies found Johnny Sexton in front of him.

With eyes locked on the Irish ten, the Welsh powerhouse, whilst barely breaking stride, proceeded to plant a solid palm into Sexton's ribcage, sending him airborne.

To Sexton's credit he was straight back to his feet immediately, back in the defensive line, but even if his body absorbed the blow, there's no denying it must have dented the pride of such a ferociously competitive player.

As we learned recently with the All It Takes short film, Sexton relentlessly strives to be the best.

Davies' hand off is reminiscent of a Sonny Bill Williams fend whilst playing for Canterbury a few years back, but was perhaps not quite as dramatic as Dean Mumm's monster hand-off on Marcel Coetzee, both of which can be seen on page two of this post.

We've also added a few more must see fends and hand-offs in the Related Posts below this


9 Comments

  • bunn
    9:18 PM 18/03/2015

    Down boy!

  • danknapp
    2:43 PM 18/03/2015

    Bugger, realise I wrote 'signing' rather than 'singing'. You obviously wouldn't hear people signing.

    I have however reached my inclusiveness quota for the day. #MiddleClassAchievementPoints

  • danknapp
    2:42 PM 18/03/2015

    They don't realise how uplifting it can be to hear 10 people signing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. How are you meant to pick out individual voices when 70,000 people are singing at the same time? How do they harmonise? I mean, sure, it's loud, but whatever happened to finesse?

  • stroudos
    5:12 PM 17/03/2015

    They do get carried away a bit don't they.

    It seems that the polite ripple of applause is a lost art.

    Gone the same way as dotting the ball down for a try then calmly jogging back to your half, with barely a perceptible smile in the general direction of your team-mates, who would also be jogging back and not trying to cuddle you like some bloody footballer. Ah, well.

  • flanker2712
    1:22 PM 17/03/2015

    The crowd was unbelievably loud the whole game. Every time Wales got close to Ireland's line, stole an Irish lineout, tackled an Irish player and marched him backwards etc., it was greeted with an incredible roar. And all this I could hear on the TV. Imagine what it was like in the stadium! Amazing fans.

  • jimmy23
    10:37 AM 17/03/2015

    Hehe, fully agreed DrG ;)

  • danknapp
    8:35 AM 17/03/2015

    Awesome roar by the crowd, must have been unbelievably loud knowing the Millenium Stadium.

  • drg
    1:50 AM 17/03/2015

    It is an amazing fend but you must be aware it's old school rugby, in this day and age that has to be dangerous play by Mumm, should be punished with a red and a 20 week suspension.

  • 1:44 AM 17/03/2015

    That mumm fend is still unbelievable.