NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL Steven Luatua had a bit of a nightmare moment while playing for Auckland against Tasman in the ITM Cup this morning.

The back row scooped up a loose ball behind his own tryline in the 17th minute and attempted a clearing kick under pressure, only to scuff the pill directly to Tasman hooker Quentin McDonald [who was with Munster last season].

An easy try ensued and Luatua perhaps regretted his decision to put boot to ball. It seems certain the Auckland man will have copped a bit of abuse from his teammates in the backs after his side went on to secure a 16-16 draw. Luatua did manage to score a try later in the game, so he went some way to making up for his error.

While this was a bad example of a forward kicking the ball, the likes of Kieran Read and prop Matt Dunning have shown that it can be done successfully in the past, so we hope Luatua is not totally discouraged.

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