Last Saturday was a tough day in most grounds for any rugby to be played. I was on the way up a windy M8 for a tough encounter with Terenure, but luckily for us we had a 4G pitch to play on and we came away with a good result to bring us up to the Christmas break.
The way back home for me was about trying to listen out to the Castres vs Munster scoreline. I expected it to be a battle for Munster but not the way that it turned out.
Brutal conditions in France and a couple of sub-standard performances, most notably by Wayne Barnes, but you won’t see many professional players come out against a referee.
They’re right not to because you know the challenge going away from home. Sometimes you have to beat a bit more than the team in front of you.
You have to beat the strange surroundings, a hotel you’re not used to, a hostile atmosphere and possibly some refereeing decisions because they will also be swayed by these conditions.
However, Munster will know that despite some foul play and decisions going against them, they had enough chances to win the game and that’s probably what is most frustrating about losing at the weekend.
After a lot of excitement this year, all of a sudden Joey Carbery is being questioned. That’s what happens when you lead a team from the number 10 jersey. That is why you can never get carried away with your past performances in professional sport.
You can take a lot of confidence from what you’re capable of doing but one bad performance will lead to question marks.
It is natural for die-hard fans to want to win at all costs. They pay money to watch their team and feel they have an impact on the outcome of the game as well but we need to remember to be supporters and not just fans.
Joey will know that he missed a few from the tee. I didn’t actually see the missed kicks, but he kicked from close to half way in the first half so he will know he has that in his artillery.
He also wouldn’t step up to the tee with any doubt about his ability because he would have kicked from every different angle on the training pitch under the guidance of Richie Murphy.
It’s easy to look back with rose-tinted glasses on the career of ROG and what Jonathan Sexton has achieved so far but they had their off days as well. They didn’t kick their provinces or country to victory every time and definitely had a hiccup or two by 23 years of age.
I must have been around 23 when I missed four kicks from the tee in a home game with Cork Con in Templehill. Pretty deflating. Especially when guys you were playing with in the academy were sledging after the first couple.
"Same as last time now Jonny".
Up I stepped and gave them what they asked for. I don’t remember how that result went but I’d be pretty confident we lost based on my own performance.
As a kicker you know you’ve kicked those kicks before but there are a number of variables that come into play every time you step up to the tee. The conditions can get inside your head. The playing surface was not great in France at the weekend, which can be off putting but you have to try to stay as focused and as balanced as possible.
You’ve to try to stick to your routine, as cliched as that sounds, but that means you can’t come in too fast to the ball to give it more welly. You’ve to be more controlled, more balanced and try to stroke the ball the way you would with dry conditions.
"I’ve kicked many successful kicks with the ‘what if’ situations in my head, but the minute you miss one these become more negative than before"
If you speed things up or lunge at the ball you could end up slipping or losing your balance enough to send the ball left or right.
Other times you can just get caught up in the mental side of it. Kickers speak about blocking out their thoughts. They do this mainly by focusing on a few cues and reminding themselves of the process but sometimes it doesn’t stop a few negative thoughts coming in to your head.
I’ve kicked many successful kicks with the ‘what if’ situations in my head, but the minute you miss one these become more negative than before. Obviously it is better practice to never have a doubt in your mind but we’re all human. We have to train the mind to deal with these thoughts and nobody is the finished article at 23.
Against Edinburgh in Musgrave Park, I had been on a bit of a streak from the tee, at least for me anyway. I was up to about 15 or 16 kicks in a row across a few games and had stepped up to a kick in the same position that I had just conquered. Just do the same thing again.
Left and wide.
Nothing is more disappointing because you know your mistake was mental. It only takes one scuffed shot to bring back those jitters.
Something I learned as I got better and used to remind myself of was that I never missed two in a row. It was how I dealt with missing a kick and there was almost a sense of relief after I had missed because I started to believe that mantra.
"I know I’ll get the next one".
Other missed kicks can be as a result of fatigue. Mental or physical fatigue can creep in as the game goes on, especially when you’re coming back from an injury and your momentum has been disrupted.
We see this in a lot of different sports. Golfers miss puts that are well within their range, free takers in GAA have missed and even Lebron James misses from the free throw line. We all make mistakes so we are better off holding back our judgement.
I hope Joey Carbery will be given a chance to gain momentum again over the next few weeks. His season had been disrupted with being on the bench for Ireland and crying off late the week before last due to injury.
Chances are that some internationals will be rested for the upcoming interpro’s and then you’re looking at the Six Nations and player management. He’s been a shining light for Munster’s ambitions this year and I’m excited to see where he can lead them to.
A couple of missed kicks won’t change that.
