There is a general belief among rugby supporters across the world. Kicking is bad. And that has followed the game for so long now. It wasn’t long ago when the Bulls were three time Super Rugby Champions and dominating the game with a host of World Cup winning Springboks that all the criticism was about how they used the kicking game.
Boring, repetitive. The descriptions were so basic, so tinged with disbelief, especially as the way the teams like the Bulls and Springboks (Jake White, Heyneke Meyer era) use the box kick as an attack weapon was hated by a number of people who longed for a running game with tries.
So what happened? World Rugby changed the laws and changed the laws and changed the laws until we get to 2026.
BOX KICK IS THE BEST ATTACKING WEAPON
And what is the most potent attacking weapon in the game at the moment? The box kick.
Except the way the laws have changed, they have come full circle in a sense and now the No 1 attacking weapon that a team has is the chaos that results from a kick-chase.
Think about it, World Rugby - in the name of safety - outlawed the aerial contest. After a flurry of suspensions and cards, the aerial contest became almost moot. You don’t really see many players competing in the air in a jump anymore. It has too many consequences, and in the name of safety it has all but stopped.
Sure, there may be a few, but most teams opt now for the safety of a tap back and the quick transition play that it brings.
In GAA (Gaelic Football) it is called “Broken Ball” - a term for the chaos surrounding a tap back that can go literally anywhere. It is no surprise that the tactic - also a standard for Aussie Rules Football - is now being adopted by a host of rugby teams across the globe. Heck, the Stormers even imported an AFL coach to help them with this aspect of the game.
It makes sense. There can no longer be lane blocking. The aerial jump is a risk for players if they come off second and there is no greater attacking ball than a tap back gone wrong.
NEW SKILLS
Players have learnt to position themselves for the tap back, and because there are no offside lines in this play, they can literally stand anywhere. A rugby ball has a wicked bounce and can often find its way to the most unusual places.
And that ball, landing in the right hands, is a perfect attacking ball. Coaches love to talk about transition play - a term being used more and more across the globe for that transition from defence to attack, seizing the moment and turning it into points.
The obvious advantage that defensive lines aren’t formed and a quick ball across the field can create chaos is a good thing for the game and teams are learning fast to exploit this space.
Bok attack coach Felix Jones addressed it recently when asked if there were more scrums because the kicking game had increased. Not so, was his answer.
“The numbers are pretty conclusive from what we've seen, particularly at test level, that scrums aren't actually increasing,” Jones told the media.
“It actually came up once or twice, a couple of discussions around the contest in general and the aerial contest, actually, in London at Shape of the Game.
“And the overwhelming sense was that it's been great. It's actually opened up the game, [and] it's created more dynamism.”
MORE KICKS = MORE TRIES
Jones said that the stats showed that aerial kicks enhance the game because they lead to more linebreaks and tries.
“It's been correlated with more line breaks, [and] more tries, which obviously everyone loves to see. And, yeah, I think the thing is now, when you see a contestable kick, nobody gets bored.
And this has led to more tries across the park. Notably the Springboks broke their own season try scoring record last season, and France broke the Six Nations try scoring record this season.
“A lot of attack coaches are getting excited about that, and defence coaches are having to think about it, on top of the actual aerial contest itself,” said Jones.
“England has been very good in that department over the past couple of years. A couple of teams are trying to break the mold, and others are trying to kick a bit longer and break that cycle.
“We’ve seen some teams using different approaches to what Gaelic football refers to as a breaking ball. How teams are trying to win that – it’s another contest in itself. Transitioning from there is a massive part of the game at the moment.
“France have shown that they are willing to play in an unstructured manner,” noted Jones. “Clearly they’ve made some adjustments to their game plan recently.
“It’s a joy to watch, on the back of how they’re investing in the contest. There will always be structured elements in rugby, but when you think about where the game is going, those X-factor players who can convert a loose ball into an opportunity are more important than ever.”
PLAYERS NEED TO ADAPT
Jones was echoed by Mzwandile Stick, who coaches the Bok skillset. And the new reality has meant getting players to react quicker when a ball comes down.
“That situation is putting the players’ skillsets under huge pressure, as you don’t have a lot of time to react,” Stick said. “When you look at who is up there when the ball comes down, it’s not just the backline players. The tight forwards need to take the space and look for the scraps. Decision making and body height is so important in those scenarios.”
All this has meant that while kicks have increased in rugby, so have tries. And isn’t that what we all want? Teams who can use the tactic correctly and seize the moment, so to speak, are flourishing.
And that will lead to more kicking in the game. It may be a case for World Rugby to “be careful what you wish for” - and the law of unintended consequences has been at play.
But who would have thought that kicking would be the main driver in more tries in rugby?