A video of Harry Kane being taught how to take penalties by rugby legend Jonny Wilkinson has re-emerged after the England captain missed his crucial spot-kick in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
The Tottenham star took two penalties against club team-mate Hugo Lloris on Saturday night, coolly converting the first to bring the score level at 1-1 but blazing his second over the bar in the 84th minute as England fell to a 2-1 defeat.
A clip from a Sport Relief sketch featuring Kane was shared on social media, with fans claiming it foreshadowed his penalty miss.
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The sketch, which was recorded back in 2018, shows the striker being taught 'how to win a World Cup' by Wilkinson, who famously won the rugby version for England with an extra-time drop goal in the 2003 final against Australia.
Overseen by comedian John Bishop, the former fly-half coaches Kane on how to deliver under pressure before teaching him his technique for taking penalties - hitting it straight over the bar for three points, rather than into the goal.
In the skit, Kane nestles a perfect penalty into the bottom corner, but this does little to impress Wilkinson, who tells him: "No, no... you've got it all wrong," before stepping in.
Kane protests, replying: "But it went in though," before Wilkinson insists on showing him how its done. The former fly-half ace lines the ball up on a kicking tee and adopts his trademark stance before kicking over the crossbar.
"That's how you do it," says Wilkinson, clearly delighted with his effort, but Kane is baffled, saying "You just put it over by a mile."
“Yes, but that’s how I won a World Cup with England,” Wilkinson smiles.
Knowing he's not going to win the argument, Kane decides to give Wilkinson's technique a try and follows suit by smashing an effort high over the bar. He's met with applause by the former Toulon star, who tells him: "Much better, Harry. That's the one!".
The England captain is unlikely to find the sketch funny anymore after his miss consigned the Three Lions to another World Cup heartbreak, despite becoming his country's joint all-time record goalscorer on the same night.
His first penalty drew him level with Wayne Rooney on 53 international goals, but Kane missed his chance to break the record outright by putting it over the bar from 12 yards with just a few minutes left in the tense quarter-final clash.
After the game, Kane told ITV Sport: "I can’t fault my preparation or anything like that. It was just the execution on the night. The first one was great and the second one, I just didn’t quite hit it how I wanted to.
“That’s just something I will take on the chin. It will hurt for sure, the whole game will hurt, we had full belief in what we wanted to achieve."
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