Williams buckles under pressure of shoot-out

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

Wales flanker Martyn Williams, one of the most skilful players of his generation, is lining up his kick in the penalty shoot-out after Cardiff and Leicester finished 26 apiece after extra time in their Heineken Cup semi-final at the Millennium Stadium. He appears to be showing almost textbook form – non kicking leg planted to the side, head down, slight lean back, left arm out at 90 degrees for balance, right arm down for solidity. In the background the Tigers look on, notably No.8 Jordan Crane, more of which anon.

What’s the story behind the picture?

Welsh clubs had endured a miserable record in the Heineken Cup since Cardiff had reached the first final in January 1996 but the Blues were mounting a strong challenge in the 2008-9 season. The feel-good factor was back in Welsh rugby after the national side’s Grand Slam in 2008 and Cardiff had powered through their tricky-looking pool unbeaten to qualify for the knock-out stages as the top seeds which earned a home draw at home to Toulouse. The toughest of games but they scraped through that 9-6 to earn a ‘home’ semi-final against Tigers who had beaten Bath 20-15 in their quarterfinal.

For much of the game Tigers seemed to be winning comfortably and led 26-12 with seven minutes left but then encountered card issues with Craig Newby already binned for ten minutes when Geordan Murphy also copped a yellow. Cardiff scented blood and raised their game with superb tries from Jamie Roberts and Tom James. Both were wide out but both converted by Kiwi full-back Ben Blair, a terrific player before he suffered serious knee injuries.

Two ten-minute periods of extra time were ordered during which there was no further score so it finished 26-26, both sides having scored two tries. It was penalty shoot-out time. Panic! Each team had to nominate five kickers to take penalties from in front of the posts on the 22 in the competition’s first shoot-out. Blair, Julian Dupuy, Justin Robinson, Sam Vesty, Leigh Halfpenny, Murphy and Ceri Sweeney all converted, before Johne Murphy’s miss left the door open for the Blues.

But James hooked his kick wide, leaving Scott Hamilton, Tom Shanklin, Aaron Mauger, Richie Rees and Newby to keep the shoot-out going with successful efforts.

At which point Williams stepped forward confidently. Throughout his career Williams had never hesitated to put boot to ball when it suited, many speculating that he would actually make a really useful Test back such was his skillset. “I say Martyn Williams gets this,” proclaimed Stuart Barnes confidently on TV commetary.

What happened next?

He missed. Despite his nerveless style and technique and being a goal-kicker in his youth at Pontypridd, Williams hooked it horribly to the left. The agony!

But it wasn’t over. Jordan Crane – such an interested on-looker for the Williams kick – now had to step forward and kick the goal to see Tigers through to the final. Crane was slightly unusual for a No.8 in that he did regularly stay behind and practise his goalkicking, such as it was, with Dupuy after Tigers training. He was a good man to have batting so low down the order. Another right footer he calmly lined it up and unhurriedly planted it through the middle. Tigers were through.

Why is the picture iconic?

Its sheer uniqueness, the only time a game of professional rugby has been decided by a penalty shoot-out. It has always been seen as the option of last resort and the chances of it ever being required are remote.

Draws are reasonably rare these days and draws after 20 minutes of extra time even scarcer. And even then there is the additional tie-breaker of the game being awarded to the side scoring the most tries which will usually give you a winner.

Officially they are rather frowned upon, yet secretly the authorities pray for the occasional shoot-out for their novelty value. The action at the Millennium Stadium was absolutely riveting, a big hit with the TV audience and a topic of much debate in the Press.

Of course rugby shoot-outs are such a strange notion. In football all eleven players are to a certain degree expert kickers, it is a core skill for all concerned. Even goalkeepers and, in fact, many keepers are often included among the first five nominated penalty takers.

But rugby? You are extremely lucky if you have four players in any team who can place kick to any degree of competence. The majority of professional players will go through 15-year careers without having to take a kick at goal in earnest.

That’s what made rugby’s solitary penalty shoot-out thus far so excruciating but so watchable.

Very early on we were down to the part-time kickers and then down to the non-kickers. It was not fair but in a knock-out game you must have a winner and is there anybody out there who really believes a coin toss is the answer.

Footnote: There was no fairy-tale ending for Tigers and Crane. They lost the final 19-16 to Leinster at Murrayfield with a penalty from Johnny Sexton with ten minutes to go proving the winner for the Irish province as they took their first title.