GIVEN HOW HE has had to wait in line with Ulster and Ireland, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Paddy Jackson is so focused on his kicking at the moment he doesn’t realise just how good a run he is on.
With Ruan Pienaar kicking for Ulster and Jonathan Sexton ahead of him for Ireland, Jackson has had to grab any openings which have come his way from the tee.
And he certainly has done that with another flawless display in the 50-22 win over Japan on Saturday with his record in a green shirt since November now standing at 33 out of 34 kicks.
The only blot was a miss attempting to convert a try from Keith Earls against Scotland on a day when Jackson crossed for what remains only his second try for Ireland.
The 25-year-old has worked hard on his kicking but was surprised when it was pointed out to him just how good his form is with only one miss in the last 34 attempts, a run which started with six conversions against Canada.
“I didn’t know that. I am focused on the pitch, but off the pitch I don’t really look into it too much,” he said in Tokyo this week.
“I just to try to play the game as it comes. It’s pretty cool though I will try and keep that going.
“Kicking has been, especially goal-kicking has been a huge work-on for me from the get-go. Especially with Ruan being there I missed out on a lot of kicking opportunities to grow.
“At times I was coming into international games of not kicking for my province. Now I have stepped up and took hold of the reins and knew I needed to be getting that experience week in week out. It has paid out, and all of the help from the coaches back home, and Richie (Murphy, Irish kicking coach) who has helped me a lot here. It’s been good.
“You have just got to keep practising and trust. When I first started kicking I was just kicking the ball and hoping that it would go over.
“Whereas now I trust my routine and that practise and experience I am used to those environments now. Trust the routine, and if I can get my cues right the ball is going to go where I want it.
“It is a matter of experience and every kicker has been there. I am sure I am going to be there again at some stage. Every kicker has an off-day. Once you know you can bounce back from it there is not too much to worry about.”
Jackson is poised to win his 25th Irish cap on Saturday when the curtain comes down on the season with the concluding Test against Japan at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, the venue where the opening ceremony and first match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup will be played.
Jackson believes there will be a response from Japan after Saturday’s defeat, and he has no doubt about their impact, having been left black and blue after a few serious hits.
“I got destroyed on a couple of occasions. A few big hits which I usually try and stay away from but I think they were out to get me. They got a couple of good shots on me but thankfully I was able to stay on the pitch.
“Everyone wants to finish on a high especially Japan will be coming out all guns blazing looking to get one up on us. Everyone will be fairly focused.
“There’s definitely a few things from last week which we can put better. Even though we had a very good scoreline I don’t think we had much real attacking set-piece. Our scrum was very solid but a lot of our play from turnovers and loose balls and stuff like that. If we can get a bit of set-piece together that will be good.
“Phase play as well, we will look to get a good performance. If we can get that right we should be in for a good game,” he added.
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