THE WINDSWEPT RUGBY grounds of Clonsilla may not have looked like the kind of places that dreams come true, but it was yesterday for one George Morgan.
You know Morgan by now. He has a skill-set to make him much more than just an internet sensation in the coming decade.
After his show-reel of kicking trick-shot was shared by New Zealand out-half Dan Carter, Morgan went viral and Carter promised to offer some pointers in person – one lefty to another.
Unfortunately, Carter was struck down by injury in the opening half of Saturday’s 30 -22 win over England at Twickenham and was forced to shelve the kicking boots until next season.
Fortunately, the All Black machine creates more sublime kickers than just Carter and yesterday Morgan was taken under the wing of skills coach Mick ‘the kick’ Byrne as he put the likes of Aaron Cruden (who will wear number 10 in Carter’s place this Sunday), Aaron Smith, Israel Dagg and Beauden Barrett through their paces.
Here’s a small snippet of how he got on:
Above, ‘Mick the kick’ has asked his players to send a grubber kick bobbling through the goalposts from a zero degree angle on the touchline. Morgan didn’t quite hit the target, but he more than held his own.
Here, after Barret shows how it’s done, he takes another route to goal, but also comes up agonisingly short..
However, it wasn’t grubber kicks that brought Morgan’s name to 220,000 hits on YouTube, that was his place-kicking. Bearing in mind, it was a hellish day of strong swirling winds (you can see Aaron Smith coming to hold the ball steady on the tee) this looks pretty good to us.
So, is Cruden feeling the heat of competition having come into close proximity with a future star?
“Absolutely,” beamed the double Super Rugby champion out-half, “Even at such a young age you can see the skills that George possesses. I think just with a bit of hard work and getting out with his mates kicking the ball around he’ll go a long way.
He added: “He’s a pretty special talent. I think all of the left footers make it look pretty natural and he’s exactly the same.
“We kitted him out with a bit of gear, but he probably needed trousers, because it’s pretty cold out here today.”
Morgan however, wasn’t feeling the biting breeze.
“I really enjoyed it today. Really enjoyed working with the lads and Aaron.”
Who needs DC, ay?
The Unique Skills Challenge was hosted by AIG insurance. For more information go to AIG.ie and join them on Facebook and Twitter.
