The Tig was one of those on their feet when Geordan chanced his arm from inside his own half to land the monster kick against Gloucester, the Tigers legend barely breaking his stride as he sent the ball sailing through the posts and into the stand.
We had long been accustomed to seeing Geordie master the impossible and that kick, back in March 2009 – a casual catch, the gentle shuffle and then the smooth swing of the right boot – was just one more illustration of the unbeatable natural ability and confidence in his locker.
He had, of course, done the same thing right back in his early days, incurring the wrath of coaching staff and colleagues alike as he gathered scrappy ball on halfway, wide on the right, looked up and cocked the trigger.
Thankfully for Geordan, he got it right then too. If it had gone wrong perhaps he would not have still been around to land the match-winning kick at Saracens on Sunday.
Tigers went through 26 phases – and until about three from the end Geordan was right in the thick of them before then deciding he’d be more use acting as an extra target for the rush defence.
He took the captain’s role and responsibility, landed what he described as the “ugliest kick” of his life and wrestled four priceless points out of the game.
It was only afterwards, watching the highlights, that The Tig realised how much pressure he had been under. Geordan is actually flattened just after the kick. Then almost flattened again as his teammates mobbed their man to acclaim the win.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Again. Tanks a million Geordie.
