Why guru behind Jonny’s 2003 dagger could be Eddie’s goalkicking saviour

The man whose metronomic right boot kicked Australia to World Cup glory in 1999 has backed Wallabies rookie Carter Gordon to step up and become the reliable goalkicker required for a successful campaign at the Rugby World Cup in France.

And a big part of former Wallabies fullback Matt Burke’s confidence in Gordon stems from the fact the 22-year-old was coached as a teenager by the mentor of arguably the greatest goalkicker to ever play at a Rugby World Cup, Jonny Wilkinson.

“People forget he [Gordon] did plenty of work with Dave Alred back in the day,” Burke said.

“His style is the Dave Alred style. I can pick that a mile away, and that style gets good results, when you look at [Johnny] Sexton, [Ronan] O’Gara, Wilkinson and all those other guys around the world. So there is a fair chance Carter will knock this on the head, and do well.”

Of the many issues causing concern about the Wallabies at the Rugby World Cup, starting next week, Gordon’s goalkicking bubbled to the top after the rookie had a wayward afternoon from the tee in Australia’s loss to France in Paris.

Carter Gordon kicks a goal against New Zealand in Dunedin.Credit: Getty

Gordon missed two penalties and a conversion in the first half, but France fullback Thomas Ramos was dialled in and with four penalties on either side of half-time, pushed the hosts’ lead from a tight 7-5 to 19-5. In the end, France only outscored the Wallabies four tries to three but won by 24 points.

Gordon finished with one from four, and after three Tests as the Wallabies’ primary goalkicker, boasts a 50 per cent record in Test rugby.

With the already sizeable burden of being at his first Rugby World Cup and as the only No.10 named on Eddie Jones’ squad sheet, kicking duty is an added layer of pressure the five-Test Rebels playmaker could do without.

But after Jones overlooked Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, James O’Connor and even Reece Hodge, the only other regular goalkicker in the Wallabies squad is three-Test utility Ben Donaldson.

Gordon kicked as a schoolboy but has done so rarely at Super Rugby level since debuting in 2021, with Hodge holding the duties in Melbourne.

In an eye-popping stat, Gordon goes into the World Cup having kicked just one penalty goal at Super Rugby level or above; his first three-pointer was for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in Dunedin.

Doubling the pressure is the entrenched fact Rugby World Cups are won and lost by goalkickers. Since the tournament began in 1987, 72 per cent of all points in the nine finals have come via a kicker’s boot. Kickers have also provided most points in World Cup semi-finals.

Australia relied heavily on goalkickers to win their two Rugby World Cups, with Michael Lynagh kicking 16 of 26 points in the 1991 semi-final and final, and Burke doing ever better in 1999. In a criminally under-recognised feat, Burke kicked 49 of the Wallabies’ combined 62 points in wins over South Africa and France.

Matt Burke kicking a goal in 2008.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

Even in the successful runs of 2003 and 2015, the pressure kicking of Elton Flatley and Bernard Foley was instrumental in multiple wins.

“The game has changed [since 1999] obviously, but still the game is about scoreboard pressure,” Burke said.

“You take points and it’s three, six, nine, twelve ... scoreboard pressure is everything and you just keep squeezing and all of a sudden they look up, the mental side starts adding up. And then on the flipside, it’s that ability to staying in the fight, and to keep responding with points.”

Jones conceded in Paris that goalkicking is “100 per cent a concern” but said he had chosen to back youngsters, and they’d continue to work with Gordon. With the squad Jones named, there aren’t many other options, meaning Donaldson will likely be bench cover.

Burke expressed confidence the mulleted No.10 will come good, and pointed to Alred’s stint as a kicking coach for the Queensland Reds between 2019 and 2021. Alred is one of the world’s foremost kicking gurus, and via training drills using both feet, armed Wilkinson with the tools to break Australia’s heart in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final.

Alred worked with Gordon in his first year in the Reds academy in 2019.

“They could have built some scoreboard pressure [in Paris] but having said that, 45 and 41 [metres out], they were tough kicks. He will be better for it. I do like his kicking style. We saw in Dunedin a couple of weeks ago that he can nut them from the sideline,” Burke said.

“I will back him. I like the way he stands the ball up, that’s the way I used to do it. He didn’t miss by much. He actually hit them well.

“You get rhythm and you find it. It comes to you. But it takes time. Repetition holds you in good stead. He knows exactly what to do. But on that big stage, you just can’t be nervous on the big stage. It is about doing the do, and the repetition will get you there.

“He just needs to keep working. You don’t want to kick your groin off like Wilkinson and I did, but you want to trust that when you slot it, it goes straight.”

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Every match ad-free, live and on demand in 4K UHD from September 9.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.