KICKING IS THE SINGLE MOST PAINLESS WAY
TO RELINQUISH POSSESSION OF THE BALL


Before embarking on this section I thought it might be well to consider:
NOT KICKING
In my experience (backed, I have to add, by the IRB's recent 6-Nation's statistics) more tries are conceded from "gift" kicks to the opposition backs than for almost any other reason.

Thus, under 'normal' circumstances, the most important characteristic of which is that adequate support is available, I think it is a hundred times better for a ball carrier to attend to his first duty which is to straighten his run and then if all else fails to take the tackle rather than to make a weak kick that doesn't find touch (or otherwise achieve its objective).

If support isn't available we are dealing with a new can of worms, of course but compared with making a hurried kick which even if it finds touch gives away possession taking the tackle, protecting the ball and setting up a second phase seems to me to be a vastly superior outcome both tactically and strategically. Take into account the possibility of having your kick charged down and . . .

But what are the alternatives? I mean, if you're deep in your own 22 and they're bearing down on you, you can't just allow yourself to be tackled with the ball, can you? In a word, YES. The great temptation to simply hoof the ball away when under pressure must be resisted absolutely.


The reason for the above is that I think successful kicking is very difficult to do with any consistency. I don't mean that it's difficult to kick a rugby ball; far from it. Almost any player can do it and most of us have tried it even in the most unpromising circumstances. But it's difficult to decide when to kick and it's difficult to do it well. If it's done at the wrong time and if it's not done well more often than not the outcome is dire. This is not necessarily always obvious. The result of a bad kick often takes a few moments to make itself felt -- say about the length of time it takes the opposing 15 to gather the ball, make his cut and put his wing over in the corner -- where, of course, the try is attributed to a missed tackle and the spectators, ex-forwards to a man, have another opportunity to mutter to each other about spineless backs.

Kicking Guidelines
Penalties aside, the guidelines for when to kick are difficult to define. It is clear that never making any tactical kicks is a definite option -- the Springboks are reputed to have tried this but probably only as an exercise -- but it is probably an unrealistic one. If kicking is a possibility, however, a number of factors must be weighed before the decision is taken. These include: Probability of regaining possession; Momentum; Specific tactical objectives; Match time and Score; and Field and Weather Conditions. The relative importance of each of these factors changes as the game progresses.

Probability of re-gaining possession
It seems to me that this should be the most important factor to be considered. Given the proper circumstances (in italics) the kicks most likely to allow possession to be regained are:
1. Kick behind opposing 15 (and/or wings) supported by a determined and organized chase which at worst should force a line-out with your throw. Probability: 75%
2. Grubber into space behind a charging Up defense with at least two attackers available to recover the ball. Probability: 70%
3. Garryowen behind the defence into one of the opposition danger areas (just outside their 22 in the middle of the field or close enough to the posts that a clean catch is unlikely) with a determined and organized chase which at worst should force a line-out with your throw. Probability: 50%
4. Box kick from scrum near the touchline or line-out where a necessarily disorganized chase still has a good chance of forcing touch. Probability 50%
5. 'Banana' kick to an unmarked teammate in space. Probability 40%
6. Chip-and-chase. Probability 30%
7. Kick to touch inside the opposition 22. There is always the possibility of stealing the lineout or at least disrupting the opposition lineout so that pressure can be put on their kicker forcing a lineout in your favour. Possibility 15%
7. Kick to touch outside the opposition 22. There is the rare but definite place for a pressure-relieving kick to touch to e.g. to break a defensive cycle. Probability 0 to 15%

In every other circumstance the value of every kick must be judged very harshly and only in terms of the actual benefit gained -- if any.

Momentum
Maintenance and re-establishment of momentum are critical aspects of play. If every kick were to be measured only against its liklihood of increasing or decreasing momentum my guess is that there would be very few kicks taken. Grubbers and chip-and-chases are the only kicks that maintain momentum if they are successful. All others more or less reduce it.

Specific tactical objectives
The wind is swirling, the rain is horizontal and your chase is rarin' to go so you wonder if the opposing 15 had his intestinal fortitude pills this morning? If the game is in its 1st quarter it may be worth finding out.
The concept of "playing the game in their half" does seem, on the face of it, to have merit but in a short term/tactical sense rather than a strategic one.

Match time and Score
Leading by 10 with two minutes on the clock? Kick the ball into the river.
Seriously, assuming you are observing not only the letter but also the spirit of all the Laws of the Game it is still true that nobody ever said you are also supposed to give the opposition any advantage. Far from it. The spirit of rugby is basically "no quarter given, none expected" and how you use your time in possession of the ball is a measure of your determination to win.

Field and Weather Conditions
How you use any natural advantage provided by the weather or the field conditions is also a measure of your ability to play the game. You're playing down the slope with the wind behind you? Forget your dedication to open rugby until you are on the opposition's 22! The conditions are reversed? You'd be mad to persist with garryowens.

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Kicking in defence

If kicking successfully under no pressure is difficult kicking successfully under pressure must be regarded as effectively impossible! If you must kick in defense attempts must be made to reduce the pressure on the kicker. To do this the kicker must be given space which means finding a way to keep the opposition on their own side of the off-side line while you recycle the ball and make the kick. This requires a ruck and a successful ruck requires at least three of your players so once again support is crucial.

Kicking for touch
The first objective of touch kicking is to find touch. Gaining field position comes a very poor second and not finding touch, the third possible outcome, is nothing short of a disaster except in one special circumstances, the kick into the corner of the field. Here failing to make touch can sometimes be turned to advantage because the options remaining to the defense are considerably diminished. This does not mean that you should kick wildly into the corner at every opportunity because there are other pitfalls. e.g. kicking too long results in a scrum back.

Penalties: Kicking for Points Take the points that are offered unless there is a VERY, VERY compelling reason not to.

The exception to the rule...?
One exception to this rule to take the points under all circumstances arises when you are awarded a kickable penalty in the first few minutes of a game.
When this happens the chances are that this penalty is to some extent at least your reward for an aggressive start and it may be worth maintaining the momentum of this start by kicking for the corner with a view to scoring 7 points rather than 3.
If do you score the try well and good, if you don't not much is lost; you still have lots of time and you have given the opposition a very clear indication of your aggressive intentions. Worth considering!

It takes anything up to two minutes of game time to take a place kick and it's not difficult for the opposition to fritter away another minute or so even if you are successful. So the mathematics are straightforward. If you're losing by 2 points with 4 minutes to go, obviously take the kick. If you're losing by 4 points go for the corner and run to the line-out. If you're losing by 6 or more, take the kick as quickly as is prudent, chase the ball down and deliver it quickly to the opposition's restarter making sure that the ref. is aware of what you're doing.

Penalties: Kicking for Touch
A penalty kicked square into touch keeping the throw-in is fifty times more valuable than a 75m bullet caught in-field that sets up a counterattack and puts the kicking team back on the defensive.
A safe and efficient happy medium between these two extremes can usually be found by even the most mediocre kicker. Note: if you use penalty kicks to touch as a good opportunity for team conferences the kicker not finding touch can drop you in it, big time!

Having kicked to touch a successful line-out is now crucial if you are to maintain momentum so make sure that you select your best option and that the entire pack is on board. The pack will have had a few seconds to prepare so there should be no need for a call. Trot up, throw in and move forward.

Restarts
Mid-field restarts have been discussed in the Set Pieces section.

Restarts: 22 drop-out
There is NEVER justification for a short drop-out. Giving the opposition a fair chance to acquire the ball on your 22 makes absolutely no sense. There are thus only two 22 drop-out options: kick long into the open side or long into the box (behind the mass of their forwards) but in either case into a place where the defense ain't. Even if the wind is squarely in your teeth it should be possible to put the ball behind the mass of defenders.

Of these the box option approach is by far the safest unless defenders are very sparse on the open side. Whichever is chosen the kick must be taken without any hesitation, and
a) getting the ball from the dot immediately to the kicker should be a crucial priority. Nothing in the Laws says the kick has to be taken on the 22 and a recent change in the Laws allows for members of the kicking team to be in front of the kicker as long as the kicker or another player puts his team on-side. Thus it makes sense to begin the run-up to the kick well behind the 22 and actually kick say 10m behind it to make sure the kick is not charged down at the line.
b) Getting wingers/flankers into position to chase should be a second and getting the rest of the team up in a defensive line, 8 and 9 slightly behind to snag the chip and 15 plus a wing in position to field the longer reply.

The kick must be chased with determination by tacklers who know what is expected and who, if they can't initiate an immediate turnover, must with your defensive line in place shut down the counter-attack e.g. by forcing a clearance to touch.

Afterthought: There is, I suppose, the situation in the dying seconds of a losing match where it may be worth the kicker trying to drop and retrieve the ball and put men away on the open side. When all else fails...

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Tactical Kicking

The prevalence of 4-up back defenses has reopened the opportunity for tactical kicking.

In RWCs '99 and '03 France, England and Scotland showed that well-judged kicks in attack can produce tries. Grubbers and chips both relatively straight and angled behind the open side wing paid off. Even faced with this evidence, however, I still believe that kicking exposes some of the worst skills in rugby. Very few kickers (mostly internationals and even they fail regularly) can come close to achieving the sort of accuracy that is required to make kicking worthwhile. The major problem with the kicking game is that it can exacerbate the very condition it seeks to help.

A team may use open field kicking to get itself out of a difficulty once or twice a game but is very, very unlikely to kick itself into a victory. Having said that, there are valid reasons for kicking in specific circumstances, the most compelling being the necessity to regain forward momentum. This is a difficult and risky task but it seems to me that you must accept the risks to gain your objective especially when you consider that banging hopelessly against a formed defensive line also has very real risks.

One further caveat: If the team resorts to kicking because it can't play 15-man rugby due to poor fitness or skills then being able to exploit its tactical kicks is obviously not on -- so the exchange of possession for position is doomed to be a losing one. (There are other tactics available to unfit, un-skilled teams!)

Drop-Goal
The drop-goal is a tactic which can salvage a static position and I have come to believe that it is one way to combat loss of momentum. Obviously, it can only be used within range of the posts but if you have a kicker of average or better than average ability (who is prepared to do the practice necessary!) it can be a very potent tactic in situations where you face a poised, well-organized defense dedicated to making sure that you are receiving only slow ball. If you can work the ball into the middle of the field by phased play then even slow ball from the ruck with your kicker in the pocket should provide the opportunity.

Successful drop-goals often surprise the defense (and always surprise the spectators) and for this reason alone it may be worth having a go even if conditions are not perfect. Even an unsuccessful attempt can be useful since there is always the chance of a defensive error which can be turned to advantage. And if it results in the opposition dropping-out at least you will regain possession. It goes without saying that, as always, communication of your intention to the team is crucial not only in setting-up the attempt but in making sure that the chase follows up.

Up-and-under in open play
The difficulty of placing a garryowen into a dangerous position -- as opposed to simply banging it in the air and hoping one's teammates will somehow recover it -- reduces the effectiveness of this tactic. An up-and-under that falls short immediately stalls the attack even if the ball is recovered. One that is too far is simply an invitation to the opposition to counter-attack since no pressure can be brought to support it or to pressure the receivers. However, if it is well-placed to land in a danger zone AND your intention has been communicated it can be a decisive tactic in regaining momentum even given the risks.

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Box Kick
Like the garryowen the box kick is a potent tactic if it is accurate both for distance and angle, and the kicker's team expect it as, say, part of a rehearsed move and are thus poised to exploit it. It has the advantage of being made from close to the off-side line and is particularly useful in pressure situations e.g. where your 9 is pressured by a failing scrum or line-out.

There seems to be a tradition on the part of all TV commentators and other similarly uninformed spectators to greet all box kicks with a despairing cry of "He hasn't found touch!" This is always followed by vast surprise when the receiver is bundled into touch or otherwise errs as a result of the pressure from the chasers. Fortunately, the skillful box kicker and the successful chasers don't hear this sort of nonsense.

Wipers
The famous wipers kick (diagonally into the space behind the openside wing) is by far the best way at junior levels to set up a full-back/wing counterattack by the opposition exactly in the part of the field where your team has least defense. However, properly executed it turns the wing and stands a good chance of setting-up a turnover. There are various ways to set-up a wipers. Many teams use at least one phase after the set-piece to concentrate or at least fix the opposition forwards. Another tactic is for 12 to make the kick. This has the effect of triggering the opposition's back defense and potentially opening a few more yards of space. The openside wing's task is both to put his team onside and to chase the kick so he must be alive to the tactic.

Grubber
Of all open field kicks the grubber kick is, strangely enough, the most valuable and useful tactic -- which is probably why it is so rarely used. (See elsewhere: "the principle of discovering what works and then never using it again.") Unlike the "chip and chase" the grubber is: a) relatively easy to execute, even at pace, b) allows considerable tactical variation e.g. vector, distance, c) makes space rather than relinquishes it, and d) where the "chip and chase" always requires the lucky bounce of an notoriously eccentric ball for success the grubber kicked end-over-end more often than not is gatherable by the attack. Even if it's covered it requires the covering defender to go down to field it and this is worth at least a yard to the kicker/tackler. My feeling is that the grubber is likely to be recovered 70% of the time -- i.e. on a par with the normal odds of a competent back beating his man given space.

Chip and chase
I admit to being prejudiced against this tactic. To my mind the chances of a "C and C" providing real advantage can be no more than one in three i.e. a very high risk indeed if possession is of importance (which it is!). While the excitement engendered by this sort of nonsense is considerable -- something like watching somebody you hate juggle with butcher knives blindfold -- the efficiency of it as an attacking tactic is negligible. To my mind wingers use this tactic to shirk their 1st duty which is to beat their man.

Even having seen David Humphreys' incredible and game-turning so-called C-and-C try for Ulster against Stade Francais in the semi-final of the '99 European Cup I am still of the above opinion! Humphreys' chip came out of close traffic on a narrow blind-side deep in his own half. The Stade 9 and 11 both got caught out of position, their loosies were nowhere and their 15 was asleep. Thus I'd class his kick more as a box kick which worked -- spectacularly!

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Coaching the kicker
It goes without saying that selecting a reliable goal kicker is crucial but what is not so obvious is that your goal-kicker must be nurtured and, if necessary, cossetted. (Reliable to me means at least 7 out of 10 within the 22.)
There has been a lot of emphasis recently on coaching the kicker to the extent that many of the national unions have a coach who does little else. The problem is that it has yet to be proved to me that you can "make" a successful place kicker. What you can do, however, is to improve the performance of players who have already demonstrated ability and, perhaps more important, enthusiasm for the task. To do this ensure that your place kickers have adequate practice time and that this time is used to "groove the swing" rather than simply demonstrate power. 25 fully concentrated kicks from no further out than the 22 and no wider than the 15m line will do more to improve your kicker's success than half-a-dozen massive boots from the half-way line. Many kickers, especially beginners and junior players, gain great benefits from the standard practice of using the goal line and attempting to hit the single post. This method provides instant feed-back. Again, the objective should be to work on technique, not distance.
From: Johnny Watterson talks to Ulster's influential David Humphreys.04/01/02:

"A few years ago I was quite erratic. I was kicking a lot more like what people call natural goal kickers. Now I'm slightly more technical in that I understand more of the theory behind it. I wouldn't say I'm self taught but I'm more technical than I used to be. If something goes wrong I can generally work out what's going on.

"I mean you miss kicks but you can understand why you miss them and hopefully make a correction. If you're kicking well you want to reproduce the same sort of strike on the ball so in many ways, yeh, it would be similar to when golfers talk about grooving a swing."
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