Hare: I knew it was a big moment

DUSTY Hare famously scored a world record 7,337 points in first class rugby but it is his 79th minute penalty to beat Wales in 1980 that he is forever remembered.

“It was a muddy wasteland as Twickenham often was in those days,” says Hare, right. “Wales had seven shots at goal and didn’t land one, I had seven shots at goal and landed just three.

It was horrendous trying to kick off the floor, it was so soft and spongy. There didn’t seem to be any grass management at Twickenham in those days whereas now it’s the best playing surface in the world. Twickenham was a disgrace throughout most of my career. It was either a muddy mess or the grass was a foot tall and was like playing in a bloody meadow.

“The winning kick was quite wide out on the right but I didn’t mind that at all because that was the only area where the pitch condition was half decent. I fancied it, I had come to terms with conditions by then. I was oblivious to the crowd throughout my kicking routine but, for one of the few times in my career, I allowed the crowd into my consciousness when I trotted back into my position.

“It was absolutely deafening, I can hear it still. It felt like a very big moment for English rugby. I knew instantly I made contact that it was right out of the middle, just like when you cream a drive through the covers. It was nigh on perfect that little beauty and I was running back long before it went through the sticks.

“I never had a kicking coach in my life, but I was methodical and repetitive and relied on a routine I had worked out myself. Gradually I became a “shunter” whereby I was pushing it and giving the kick just what it needed rather than going with a full-blooded follow through. Goalkicking is much like golf, hitting shots off the fairway. I used to form a mental picture of exactly where I wanted the ball to go – not just through the sticks but exactly where it would go through the sticks, which sector.

“The ball doesn’t need to go high and handsome; it just needs to go through. I would take the wind and elements into account, the conditions underfoot for my kicking foot and I would shape the shot in my mind like a golfer and tee off. I practised on my own a huge amount on the family farm, we had a grass paddock with a telegraph pole in the middle of it and I used to practise by aiming at it. I didn’t hit it very often, it was a bit like getting a hole in one, but it was a target, and I got to the point where I was never far away.”