If Jonah Lomu hadn’t gone and scored four tries, the 1995 World Cup semi-final would probably be remembered for an outrageous piece of skill by the great Zinzan Brooke.
Hard and all as it may be to fathom, it would have been understandable to feel a degree of sympathy for England in 1995. Not only did they have to deal with the irrepressible Jonah Lomu at the very peak of his powers, but they also had to witness a back row forward knocking over a drop goal from what would be called ‘downtown’ in basketball parlance to rub salt into their wounds.
Had their players looked up to the skies on that day in Cape Town, they wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see pigs soaring overhead such was the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening on the field. But before we dwell too long on sympathising with the English, let us appreciate the aforementioned drop goal, by the great All-Black number eight Zinzan Brooke.
Having stretched to field a long clearance from England full-back Mike Catt, Brooke returned the clearance kick with interest and sent a magnificent drop-kick between the posts for a richly rewarded three points.
Unfortunately for Brooke, the moment was lost somewhat due to the spectacular nature of Lomu’s contribution that day, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive, even when looking back 16 years on.
There were so many things to admire about Brooke’s effort. First of all, he was nearly 50 metres out, secondly, he didn’t even break stride and thirdly, if you have a look at the trajectory of the kick, it turns just inside the post at the last minute, like one of those sweetly struck outside of the boot efforts that Brian Dooher used to execute for Tyrone in his pomp.
To put Brooke’s accomplishment into context, can you imagine any number eight in the modern game that would have the audacity even to attempt a drop goal from fifty yards, never mind pop it over the crossbar as if it was as natural as getting out of bed in the morning.
Jamie Heaslip? Don’t think so. Nick Easter? Certainly not. Kieran Read? Doubtful. Only Sergio Parisse comes to mind as someone who could possibly pull it off. Brooke even kicked two further drop goals in test matches in what was a glittering All-Black career.
Still, there’s always been a bit of the romantic in Brooke. He even went as far as to change his name from Murray Zinzan Brooke to Zinzan Valentine Brooke by deed poll and set up a construction company called Valentines Homes after he finished playing.
Unlike most All-Blacks, Brooke was a (peripheral) member of a World Cup winning squad in 1987 and according to his Wikipedia page, he also played Gaelic Football for Auckland Gaels and for St. Brendan’s while living in London after his rugby career.
Is there anything he can’t do?
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