Stuart Hogg 'baffled' by kicker change as late James Williams miss costs Bristol a point at Exeter - 'Strange decision'
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Published 05/11/2023 at 18:58 GMT
Bristol Bears squandered a glorious chance to take a losing bonus point home from their trip to Exeter when James Williams missed a simple penalty to keep the score at 29-20. TNT Sports pundit Stuart Hogg was "baffled" that regular kicker Callum Sheedy was overlooked for the crucial effort from the tee, calling it a "strange decision" and saying Williams "will be kicking himself now".
James Williams of Bristol Bears kicks for the posts before missing to deny his team a losing bonus point during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Exeter Chiefs and Bristol Bears at Sandy Park on November 05, 2023 in Exeter, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Stuart Hogg was “baffled” that Callum Sheedy did not take a crucial late penalty for Bristol Bears against Exeter Chiefs after seeing substitute James Williams squander the chance for a losing bonus point.
With less than two minutes left on the clock and a nine-point deficit separating the sides, Bears won a penalty close to the sticks and chose to kick for goal to all-but secure a point.
However, second-half substitute Williams surprisingly stepped up to the tee instead of regular goal-kicker Sheedy and pulled his effort wide, meaning Bristol headed home with nothing to show for their efforts.
After the game, Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam gave his take on what had happened.
“It’s up to the guys out there who shoots the goals,” Lam told TNT Sports.
“With Jimmy [Williams] coming on, I don’t know exactly who decided who was taking the kicks. Obviously, Sheedy was a bit annoyed at the end, but we left 10 points out there.
“I think we saw at the World Cup that goal kickers do make a difference but in saying that, we had a lot of chances to apply pressure, but took pressure off a lot of times with silly mistakes or giving away penalties.”
TNT Sports pundit and former Exeter and Scotland star Hogg was not convinced by the explanation and was struggling to believe what he had seen.
“It’s a little bit disappointing to be honest, because yes, Sheedy did miss a couple of kicks early on, but they’re out wide, they’re big kicks,” Hogg said.
“But for James Williams, his first kick of the game is to get a losing bonus point. The pressure on that is massive. I’m baffled that this has happened.
“He should be pinging them over, it’s an easy enough kick. He’ll be kicking himself now and they’re going back up the M5 with nothing.”
Bristol full-back Rich Lane scored a hat-trick of tries, all coming from Sheedy kick assists, but it was not enough for Lam’s side to take anything from the game after fading in the second half.
“If they were going home with one bonus point, they would be absolutely delighted, the way things unfolded in that game,” Hogg said.
“It’s just a strange, strange decision. Yes, they’re talking about leaving 10 points out there, but you talk about opportunities in rugby and making the most of them - in the Gallagher Premiership you’ve got to take everything that’s on offer.”
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