WAS IT OVER OR WASN’T IT?
A debate still ranges on the long-range penalty that Vodacom Bulls fullback Johan Goosen took in the Currie Cup game against the Toyota Cheetahs this past weekend and whether it crept over or under the cross-bar.
The assistant referees behind the posts said it wasn’t over, and the game continued, but there have been video clips going round asking the question and even the SuperRugby panel on Monday night believe the kick was over.
Even Bulls fullback Goosen, who kicked the monster kick - just shy of 60 metres - in the game, isn’t sure.
“I thought it was over,” he smiled when asked about it on Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t know why we didn’t go look - we use the TMO for everything else and there are a lot of cameras in the stadium but for kicks we just leave it.”
Goosen believes the psychological difference it would have made to a close and tense game would have been significant, but has a c’est la vie attitude to the fact it wasn’t checked again.
“It could have made a massive difference to the game, because we got penalties afterwards that we decided to go for the sideline but if that kick was over, we would have taken the kicks at posts. But we take it on the chin.”
Goosen’s accurate kicking won him the golden boot award in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and has been a deadshot all season with the boot. But when you ask him about it, he becomes shy and doesn’t really want to blow his own trumpet.
‘I work hard on it, and it comes down to the day. You have a process that you follow when you kick at posts and sometimes you are lucky. That is a good part of my game and I get a lot of confidence from it. When it goes well, that wave you ride gives you a lot of confidence. It has gone badly as well, so you hope it goes well.”
While he admits he doesn’t have the sidestep that Kurt-Lee Arendse has, or the pace of Canan Moodie, Goosen is enjoying his time at fullback and believes whatever allows him to play is where he should be.
“At the moment it is where Jake chooses me and it doesn’t really matter to me. I enjoy playing at 15. I understand Kurt (Lee Arendse) is at the Boks. I’m not in the same league as him there at the back but I try and do my best to help the team.”
But if such a big kick comes again, you can be sure this time Goosen will ask for a replay, especially if it looks as if the ball just dipped under the crossbar.