Connacht must stop the rot in high stakes Euro clash against Russian visitors
HEAD coach Pat Lam’s suggested bedtime reading for Connacht’s place-kickers is the autobiography of Rugby World Cup winning out-half, Jonny Wilkinson.
The book reveals insights into the England hero’s borderline obsession with the repetitive and tedious task of practicing place-kicking, long after team-mates had hit the showers after training.
Lam didn’t need to read it to learn of this dedication from the perfectionist – he saw it first hand while the pair soldiered together at Newcastle Falcons.
“I remember even when it was snowing, and after training we all went in for hot soup, and he (Wilkinson) was still out there doing it (practicing kicks),” said Lam.
The Samoan recalled the anecdote to all of his place-kickers during the review of another defeat last weekend, against Brive.
Even though it was Connacht’s ‘worst’ performance all season, it could have been avoided if they converted more of their penalties and conversions.
Goal-kickers are chosen each week by backs and kicking coach, Andre Bell based on the work they’ve done in training the previous week. Lam made it abundantly clear he expects more from his kickers: The difference between missing and scoring kicks is winning or losing.
“My expectation is if you are the chosen goal kicker . . . and if you’re taking on that mantle, my expectation is 100%. It’s not ‘oh I hope he gets it’. My expectation is ‘you nail it’ . . . We’ve seen the difference, when we nail our kicks. At the start of the season our kickers were over the 80% mark (kicking success rate) and we’ve dropped right down to just above the 50% mark and it’s not good enough.”
Lam cited place-kickers as an example but his message about putting the work in was aimed at all squad members. After the Brive match, a game Connacht lost for the second week running by conceding a penalty near full-time, Lam was angry.
Usually, he said, he waits until he reviews the game before sounding-off but not on Sunday. “I didn’t need to wait – the stats backed it up,” said Lam, before listing those stats. They reflected the stop-start nature of the game and how they effectively threw it away by underperforming. Connacht made just 70-odd tackles; and conceded twice as many penalties as Brive (14 versus 7). The error count was ridiculous, too.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.