England legend’s ‘good advice’ key to France and La Rochelle’s Nolann Le Garrec’s quality goal kicking

Nolann Le Garrec is one of the most consistent goalkickers at present within the sport of rugby, perhaps only bested by his compatriot Thomas Ramos and South African Handre Pollard.

The La Rochelle star demonstrated all the qualities of a world-class goalkicker during the Champions Cup fixture this season when Ronan O’Gara’s side lost to Leinster.

Three conversions and a penalty from Le Garrec were not enough to help the French side beat Leo Cullen’s team, but as he stroked over his final kick with just minutes left from a narrow angle on the sideline with the score needing to give them the best chance for victory, the scrum-half coolly slotted it.

Pressure had no effect on him, and he will be disappointed his teammates could not see the game out after his fantastic exploits from the boot.

This accuracy and consistency has not come about by chance for the 23-year-old, but it is due to hard work, dedication and perfecting his technique, while also taking on advice from those he has worked with, including one England legend.

Le Garrec said: “Like I'm still young, but I can't kick hundreds and hundreds of balls like before after a training session. So now I try to fix my routine, my kicking, short but accurate.

“Yeah, I've got some discussions, some small talks with Ronan O’Gara. But as you said, it was a really different way to kick. So, he has some fundamentals he tried to give me.

“But after, I think it's really different from how he used to kick. So, he gave me some points, but after he knew my routine was different, I worked on that.

“I can learn a lot again, but yeah, small talks sometimes. It's not big talks that mainly focus, but sometimes you just follow through, or like I spoke with Owen [Farrell] last year, and maybe the way is you don't smash the ball, just let your body go with the ball, so it was some good advice.”

Owen Farrell has been one of the finest rugby players in the modern game. Having been named European Player of the Year in 2017, he is the fourth most capped international for England, while he holds the record for most points scored for the nation, with 1,237 points – placing him second all-time in international rugby.

So, who else would be better for Le Garrec to get advice from to improve his goalkicking? Perhaps only Dan Carter, as he has scored the most points ever within the sport.

Yet, Le Garrec has now been able to work with Farrell and O’Gara, the fifth-highest points scorer in the sport, to improve his kicking, so it makes complete sense as to why he will be able to fine-tune his already impressive kicking technique.

While it is unlikely he will replace Ramos as the first-choice French goal kicker, he demonstrated from Les Bleus' tour in New Zealand last summer that he is on the way to becoming their second choice behind the Toulouse star when featuring in the national team.