Training competition and extra kicking practice helped Bradley Davids become a Sharks hero

Young Sharks scrumhalf Bradley Davids would never have imagined in his wildest dreams that it would come down to him, in a penalty shootout, to convert the winning kick to send his side into their first ever United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinal.

In an unprecedented match, the Sharks and Munster couldn’t be separated in normal time, drawing 24-all, before a scoreless 20 minutes of extra time sent it to a first ever URC penalty shootout.

And after watching 98 minutes of the match from the substitutes’ bench, 22-year-old Davids was sent on for winger Makazole Mapimpi, with the team management clearly aware they needed kickers on the field, should the match go to a shoot-out. And so, it did, the two sides unable to be separated.

Davids was nominated as one goal-kicker, along with brothers, Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse.

Aphelele Fassi, who kicked three penalties in the Sharks’ recent pool win over Scarlets, was left out, showing the faith the team management had in Davids.

And so they were vindicated, as the three kickers each nailed both their shots at goal, Jaden kicking from in front, Jordan from an angle on the right, and Davids from an angle on the left, and it was poetic that he landed the pressure final kick that secured the quarterfinal win.

Munster landed four out of five kicks, Rory Scannell missing his side’s second shot at goal, meaning Conor Murray didn’t need to take his second kick with the match over.

Kicking competition

After the game Davids admitted that this wasn’t something that they trained for, but that the little competitions between the kickers in training helped prepare him for the moment.

“I knew my role going on was just to take the kicks. So I prepared myself during the last 10 minutes of extra time,” said Davids.

“We don’t plan for this. It’s just a little competition we have among ourselves [at training]. We kick a lot against each other to see if Jordan ever gets injured, who will take over.

“So me, Jaden and Fassi always challenge each other to see who’s the best in training. Luckily it came off tonight and all the hard work was worth it.”

Davids also credited his girlfriend for supporting him when he would stay late after training to work on his kicking.

“In the week my girlfriend gets fed up with me because I always want to come and practice kicks in the evening after training. She brings her work with and sits next to the field, so credit to her for coming along and watching me kick,” said Davids.

Big match temperament

Sharks captain Eben Etzebeth was thrilled with the outcome and hailed the big match temperament (BMT) of the three kickers to get them over the line.

“I’ve never experienced this. First time going to extra time, thought it would be over before the hundred minutes, and then going to goal kicks,” said Etzebeth.

“I don’t know how those guys felt having to take those kicks. It must have been really stressful. We did our jobs after a hundred minutes and we had to leave it up to them and thank goodness we won that lottery.

“That was a stressful BMT moment and the three of them slotted all six goal kicks, so it was unbelievable.”

Sharks coach John Plumtree admitted that the management team was scrambling during extra time as the reality of a penalty shootout was becoming more apparent, as neither side could find a winner.

“No we don’t (plan for this). We were scrambling in the box there. We were looking at the pitch map, where the kicks would be taken from, and obviously with 10 minutes to go we were talking about getting Bradley on because he’s a classy little kicker,” explained Plumtree.

“So we got him on with two minutes to go and wow, what a moment for him. Kicking the goal to win the match, huge BMT for a young fellow and I am proud of him.”