'Kick of the age' - 40 years since Thorburn's monster

It is 1986 and Wales have a slender 16-15 lead over Scotland in Cardiff when they are awarded a penalty inside their own half.

Their full-back, Paul Thorburn, collects the ball and is expected to hoof the ball up field into touch.

But the brash 23-year-old does something that no-one - not even his captain - expected. He signals he will kick at goal.

What?!

Even legendary commentator Bill McLaren, who had seen most things on a rugby pitch, can barely believe his eyes.

"Well, you're not going to believe this," he tells the millions of baffled viewers, before adding: "It's miles to those goalposts."

What Thorburn did next not only stunned the rugby world but his "the kick of the age" remains the longest ever in international rugby., external

Even 40 years on, the scale of that achievement has not diminished.

During an illustrious career, Thorburn was the captain for Wales before retiring as his country's highest Test points scorer.

Yet it would be the "monster" effort against Scotland during their Five Nations clash in 1986, that would remain his defining moment.

Still a newcomer to Test rugby - he was winning only his fifth cap for Wales that day - Thorburn was unfazed.

"I was always a better long-range kicker than the short stuff. I was always more relaxed because I thought, there was no expectation," he said.

"I used to practise them a lot and if they came off, they were always a bit more spectacular."

Jonathan Davies was obstructed after kicking the ball clear from inside his own half.

While everyone inside the National Stadium anticipated a kick to touch, Thorburn had other ideas and told his captain he fancied his chances.

The look of surprise on David Pickering's face was matched by the murmur of astonishment rippling around the stadium.

Then, in the days before kicking-tees, Thorburn had to dig his heels into the turf to create his own mound while somewhere in the distance stood the Scottish posts.

McLaren's excited description of the kick - as the ball sailed through the Cardiff air and narrowly between the posts - only added to the magic of the moment.

"I've seen all the great goal-kickers in the world over the last decade, but I've never seen a kick like this one", he told the TV audience.

And we have never seen anything like it since.

At just over 70 yards (64.2m), 'that kick' still remains a record, 40 years later.

Changes to the game's laws mean fewer kickers are even likely to attempt such a long kick given team's retain possession when kicking a penalty to touch.

"Circumstances have dictated in many ways that people don't go for it anymore," Thorburn told Radio Wales Breakfast.

"There are players out there, like South Africa's Francois Steyn a number of years ago, who could do it. And of course I did have a bit of a breeze behind me, I'm not going to lie about that."