Leigh Halfpenny: after our Cup nightmare, my heart was beating so hard before I kicked winner in Ireland

Leigh Halfpenny: 'We win and lose together'
Mark Bailey10 April 2012

Until Leigh Halfpenny fully committed to becoming a professional rugby player at the age of 18, he had been planning to be a dentist.

At the end of Wales' devastating 9-8 defeat by France in last October's World Cup semi-final, having just watched his late, long-range penalty fall agonisingly short, the Welshman would rather have been poking around a pair of dentures - or stuck in a dentist's chair himself - than be standing on the sodden turf at Eden Park knowing his chance to be a national hero had just slipped away.

Last Sunday afternoon, when the 23-year-old Halfpenny sent his last-gasp penalty sailing between the posts to secure a valiant 23-21 victory over Ireland in Wales' opening RBS Six Nations tie at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, there was nowhere on earth he'd rather have been.

"My heart was beating so hard before that kick," says Halfpenny. "I knew this would be the last moment to win it, so I just had to stay focused. I was still annoyed because I had missed a conversion a few minutes before, so I was just happy to get another chance. The miss against France had hurt for a long time, so that was an emotional moment for me and the team."

If that kick exorcised Halfpenny's personal demons, it also helped to end Wales' reputation as a side that excel in playing entertaining, free-flowing rugby only to lose narrowly in the biggest games.

"It was a classic Six Nations game, a real end-to-end match, so this time I was happy to be on the winning team," he says. "You can sense from the tempo during the game, as well as our reactions at the final whistle and all the things our fans said to me afterwards, that it was a special win."

Following Wales' best World Cup performance for 24 years, there is expectation that Warren Gatland's gifted young team could secure an 11th Grand Slam but Halfpenny isn't getting carried away.

"We have won only one game and it's not in the nature of this side to think too far ahead," he says. "There is more expectation after the World Cup and we're very hopeful that with the players we have we can achieve something great together.

"We went back to training this week on a high before our next game with Scotland."

Halfpenny has previously scored two tries in two games against Scotland, including a late one at the Millennium Stadium in 2010 which sparked his side's incredible comeback from being 24-14 down with three minutes remaining to win 31-24.

"We were on the ropes until those two late tries,
so I know how difficult Scotland can be," says Halfpenny.

"Scotland missed plenty of scoring opportunities against England, so we expect a tough battle. We won't be complacent."

Halfpenny also has one eye on the trip to Twickenham on February 25. "I remember losing there a few years ago [a 30-17 defeat in 2010] when we were really close until the final minutes. That loss really hurt, so it would be good to put that right.

"England have a very young team like us. Their two centres, Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt, were very impressive on their international debuts. It's a young team and England will benefit from that approach in the years to come."

Halfpenny ascribes Wales' own youthful, swashbuckling style to a mixture of skilful players, rugby heritage and top-class coaching.

He says: "Fundamentally you need talented players to play the sort of rugby we do but that is also down to the coaching team who let us express ourselves. As a group, we want to play good rugby, it's in our blood and that's what Welsh fans want, too. There is a passion in this side."

The sight of 19-year-old winger George North bulldozing through the Irish last Sunday will be worrying many opponents. "George's performance was immense," says his team-mate. "It was incredible to witness something like that from a young man, he was so destructive and is a real threat. But in this team we work for each other," he adds, citing the leadership of Sam Warburton and the power of Jason Roberts.

"Every player adds something. We win and lose together." And it is this team ethic which Halfpenny prefers to highlight as the defining trait in the Wales team, revealing how their no-nonsense winter training camp in Poland, with sparse bedrooms, brutal training sessions and cryotherapy chambers helped to galvanise the team's mental strength and ability to bounce back from difficult situations.

"We spent a lot of time together at the World Cup and in Poland in tough conditions, so you find out a lot about each other. When I look at how we
went behind to Ireland late on or the injuries we suffered before the game, I know that would have broken a lot of teams. But because we've been through hard times together it doesn't faze us.

"It takes strength to beat whatever is thrown at you and we are showing resilience as well as talent. As a team, we're very good friends - we'll often meet up for coffee even when we're not training with Wales. That is a part not many people see but is very important.

"It was also crucial after the World Cup. We were all devastated but when you have a close squad you pick each other up and get through it together. Everything this team might achieve in the future will be based on working together as a team."

Leigh Halfpenny was speaking on behalf of Thomas Cook Sport, official travel partner of the WRU. For packages, call 0844 800 9900 or visit www.thomascooksport.com

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