Watch VideoURC final: Handre Pollard refuses to panic over rare goal-kicking nightmare

Handre Pollard is nothing if not honest. Despite a rare off day with the boot against the Warriors, the veteran Bulls fly-half is unfazed and locked in for next week’s huge URC final against Leinster in Dublin. Photo: Backpagepix There was a broad smile fromHandre Pollard, followed by typical candour, when he was asked about his untypical kicking display in his team’sURC defeat of the Warriors.

“I was terrible last weekend with the kicking. Absolutely,” he said of his three penalty misses during a crucial period of the game when theBullswere fighting back from a 21-3 deficit in the semi-final in Glasgow. But the 32-year-old has been around for too long to be rendered a nervous wreck because of a rare off day.

“You have those days, and you’ve got to be able to put it aside and see it for what it is,” the double World Cup-winner said. “I’d like to think I’ve had more good days than bad days in terms of kicking during my career, so I’ve been there before. “As frustrating and disappointing as it was, I know what to do to reset.” And that will not be to punish himself with long, torturous sessions on the training field.

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“I’m not one of those guys who kicks for hours,” he said before adding with self-deprecation, “In any case, I’m older now and have to look after my body. But seriously, I am more of a rhythm guy than a tough task master. When I feel I have the rhythm in training, I will stop.

“You go back to your normal routine, the system that you know works for you, and you get back into the groove,” he explained. The man who in the 2023 World Cup landed some of the biggest pressure kicks of all time says he has no doubt he will be back on the horse in next week’s final against Leinster in Dublin. “The nice thing about rugby is you get another opportunity a week later, so I’m excited for the next opportunity.

I’m not a guy with fragile confidence. For me, kicking is not a confidence thing at all. Each kick is just what it is – it’s a kick.

“I had a good look back afterwards, and there were one or two small technical tweaks that I picked up, which I can fix pretty quickly. It’s nothing major.

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