STOCK ‘N AWE AS GAMBLE PAYS OFF
On form winger Jacob: I knew the pass was going over the top and I was in the spot to get it & score
KILL or be killed – Jacob Stockdale was under no illusions when the crucial moment came.
Had Ireland coughed up a try in the last minute to lose to Wales on Saturday it would have been extremely harsh on the hosts.
But it was a possibility until Stockdale read Gareth Anscombe’s intended pass for Justin Tupuric and intercepted before sprinting clear in the game’s most vital intervention.
For Warren Gatland, it was the winning and losing of the match. “We quite conceivably could have scored in the last play,” said the Wales boss.
“If Stockdale doesn’t get the intercept, if we’d given the pass out the back – we potentially score there.”
The young winger knew the score.
Asked later what he was thinking at that moment, Stockdale replied: “I need to get this.
“We had really good pressure from Chris Farrell on Gareth Anscombe. I knew they would have to go over the top – and luckily he threw it over the top, and I was in the spot to get it.
“I’ve tried a few intercepts playing for Ulster and they haven’t come off that many times. It’s just when you see the opportunity, you go for it.”
As far as the 21-year-old is concerned there was no element of risk involved.
“I kinda wasn’t thinking should I do this, should I not,” he explained. “I saw he was going to throw a long pass and I thought I IRELAND are red hot 1/3 favourites with William Hill to win the Six Nations and 19/10 to win the Grand Slam. England could still take the title and they are 3/1 to retain the trophy.
1/3 Ireland, 3/1 England, 14/1 Scotland, 300/1 Wales 500/1 France