For a game that is at its most exciting when players run and pass the ball, it can be very frustrating for many people to see so much kicking in rugby. So why exactly is there so much kicking in rugby?
Players kick a lot in rugby for three main reasons. Firstly, teams want to gain quick territory. Secondly, because the ball they are getting is slow, and therefore it is difficult to run with, and thirdly, because it can help slow down a rushing defensive line strategy common these days.
There’s actually a bit more to it than that, and a few interesting reasons as to why you might want to kick in rugby. In fact, once you understand the reasons as to why there is so much kicking and understand the thinking and strategy behind it you may actually start to enjoy that aspect of the game more.
Yes, really! Watching a good kicking game can be interesting, fun even! Let’s see if I can persuade you into agreeing with me.
Why Do They Kick So Much In Rugby?
- Clearing your line
Most obviously, when you are deep in your own half, near your try line then if you drop the ball or make an error it is more likely to lead to the opposition scoring a try, consequently players will look to either kick the ball out as far down the pitch as possible.
If they want to give their players a chance to reorganise the defense, or to slow the game down, or they will kick the ball as high and as far as possible and then try and pressure the catcher into making a mistake.
If the receiver drops the ball or knocks it on then the kicking team then get the ball back much further away from their goal line.
- To slow down a rush/blitz defense
In recent years, some teams have been employing a blitz defensive method which is just as it sounds. The defending team runs as fast and as hard as possible at their opponents looking to minimise the time they get to use the ball.
This technique puts serious pressure on the attackers and if their skills are not quite good enough, or if weather conditions aren’t great then it can lead to mistakes such as dropped balls and poor kicks.
To counter this, the team with the ball will start placing little chip kicks or grubber kicks into the space where the defenders are running from. Defenders then have the difficult task of turning and preventing the attacking team regathering the ball in behind their defense.
Once this has been done a couple of times, it can make the blitz defense slow down as they are now worrying about the kick in behind them, this then leads to the attacking team having more time on the ball to execute their attacking moves successfully – you see interesting tactics hey ;).
- To exploit an obvious weakness
In the 2003 world cup final, Australia fielded Lote Tuquiri on the wing, up against England’s Jason Robinson, two rugby league converts. Now, Lote was 191cm tall and weighed in at 102 kg whereas Jason Robinson measured up at just 173 cm tall and a mere 81 kg.
So, to take advantage of this considerable weight and height advantage Australia clearly went out with a plan of putting high balls up on Jason Robinson (Incidentally, you can find out more about average heights and weights of rugby players here).
It worked, with Lote Tuquiri out jumping Jason Robinson to score their first try in the final. Undoubtedly, Australia would have worked on this kicking strategy during the week and it paid off.
Take a look at the first minute of the clip below to see fantastic exploitation of an obvious mismatch in terms of height and weight. Incidentally, Jason more than got his own back later in the game also in the highlights below.
- To confuse a defense and upset a team’s rhythm
We have talked about slowing down a blitz defense but if you have a fly-half such as Scottish fly-half Finn Russell, he has such a wide variety of kicks that he can execute at any given time that the opposition defense are never sure what he is going to do next.
Finn mixes up short range grubber kicks and chip kicks, alongside cross kicks, up and unders, even reverse kicks to the blind side as well as little dinks through for himself.
The different weights of kick he can execute makes it very hard to defend and for a team to maintain a defensive pattern. The uncertainty it can cause in a defense can cause slight gaps and hesitations in the defensive line which can then be exploited with his range of passes out wide.
- Because your backs are pretty average
Less about the professional game and more about the amateur game here. I once played in a team (level 5 in England) at centre, and to be honest we did not have a very good backline. Whilst we had some creativity, we genuinely lacked power and pace. This meant that we would often struggle to get over the gain line.
So, our fly-half would often simply choose to kick the leather off the ball and play for territory. Our backs were mainly used for chasing kicks that season and our wingers got rather cold. Still it was the tactic that kept us in the league that season and so does have a valid place in the game.
- Weather conditions
Only the very best teams can play running rugby in damp wet and rainy conditions. The All Blacks stand out as being a team that can execute their handling skills accurately even in torrential rain, but aside from them and some of their provincial sides, most teams struggle to play fast running and passing rugby in wet weather.
The answer – kick the ball of course. This way you do not risk dropping the ball yourself and giving a scrum to the opposition and a chance for them to attack.
- Defenses are too good
A lot of team’s defences nowadays are very organised, everyone knows where they should be and what they should be doing in any position on the pitch. This makes it very difficult for attacking teams to break down the opposition from set-play (scrums and lineouts).
The danger is that if you are attacking and not making much progress with ball in hand then eventually, you risk giving away a penalty, often from a player getting isolated and holding onto the ball.
This then rewards the defending team not the team running with the ball, so who wants to risk giving away a penalty in an important league match? The answer, kick and chase, of course!
- Strategy and tactics
Surprisingly, to many, the All Blacks kick the ball more than any other team in the world! This seems like it can’t be true because they score so many fantastic tries running and passing.
What they actually do is to build a game around kicking the ball away in order to either gain territory by forcing the opposition into a mistake, or through forcing the opposition into a poor return kick.
Now, from poor kick returns, the All Blacks are lethal, you see the field is now broken up and they can then use their fantastic vision and handling to score tries, but they often started from some form of a kick and by their players competing fiercely to get the ball back.
By looking to create broken field play through kicking in this way they can then benefit with space to run later (read about football boots v rugby boots here).
Other teams try to copy this, in part at least, but struggle to execute it effectively. Currently, England are dreadful at this (well not always, they did beat France with better kicking this year based on kicking). At times it has seemed as though they have been told to ‘kick to compete’ at all times rather than in order to develop broken field situations which they can then attack.
In other words, they forget to look in front of them for attacking options before they kick and therefore miss opportunities, and in turn frustrate fans who can see the space in front of them. In contrast, the All Blacks are always aware of what is in front of them and pick the right times to kick or run.
Sorry, for that little rant there. I am a big fan of kicking but only when executed well and with purpose. I think what upsets fans most is when they see aimless kicks that seem to have no real purpose, no coordinated chase, no imagination, and worst of all when it is done when there is open space that could have been run in to!
Anyway, I hope you gained some insight into why there is so much kicking in rugby and perhaps it will make it more interesting for you to watch in the future… perhaps!
You might also want to read about Rugby Tips For Beginners here, or How To Clean Rugby Boots here.
Photo credits: Stephen Jones touch kicking v England Unofficial England Rugby’s photos, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
