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Radike Samo, if you haven’t already been given one, give yourself a major uppercut. The Reds number 8 decided to be a “mug-lair” before he touched down to give his side as 13-3 lead after 21 minutes over the Rebels in Melbourne last night.
Samo trailled Will Genia when the crack half-back made a spectacular bust 22 metres out, and was perfectly positioned to take the tackled Genia pass off the deck for an easy five-pointer.
Superb rugby from both of them.
No, Samo had to tempt fate.
He was standing erect, well over the try-line, with his right hand on top of the ball and Rebels prop Laurie Weeks bearing down on him.
Samo taunted Weeks with a smirk, did a quick shoe-shuffle when he could so easily have lost control of the ball, and eventually touched down with Weeks within reach..
Not on.
There’s nothing wrong with Digby Ioane break-dancing on his hands, or Quade Cooper double-back-flipping. That’s adding colour to the code. But they had scored their tries, so those priceless five-pointers were already in the bank.
Tries are hard enough to come by these days to run any risk whatsoever of bombing one through stupidity.
Sure, the Reds won comfortably 33-18 in the end, but that’s not the point.
There’s a growing tendency to “show-pony”, started by former Wallaby and Reds full-back Chris Latham, who decided to add some spice to his multiple try-scoring talents by diving for the dead-ball line.
And he had plenty of opportunities, dotting down for 40 tries in 79 internationals and 41 more for the Reds in 119 starts.
There were many times Latham went within a whisker of diving over the dead-ball line. Thankfully for him, it didn’t happen. But why run the risk?
It’s a form of rugby Russian roulette.
Make no mistake, the first one who does clear the dead-ball line for a no-try to lose a big game – and it will happen – will be a soprano before the night is over.
And deservedly so.
It’s no different to the growing practice of track athletes shutting down well before the tape. It’s their way of visually telling their opponents: “I can beat you in a canter.”
Let’s face it, being a soprano will be a lot less painful than losing a Rugby World Cup final or an Olympic gold medal for being a mug-lair.
Those chances only come around once every four years.
But the nightmares will haunt the offender for the rest of his life.