Contestable kicks: how to put them to good use
INCREASINGLY, teams who deploy contestable kicks, end up kicking themselves afterwards.
Players who land dangerously as a result of an aerial contest can sustain career-threatening injury, and rugby’s laws protect the vulnerable zealously.
In recent weeks, the Highlanders’ Jason Emery copped a red card for clipping an airborne Willie le Roux, while last week, Stormers wing Leolin Zas suffered the same fate after slip-sliding into Waratahs flyhalf, Bernard Foley.
That, however, should not deter teams from deploying the high ball. But contestable kicks should be practised and sound judgment must be used in their execution.
That was the opinion of three of the local game’s foremost kickers and chasers from yesteryear.
“There is still a lot of scope for a contestable kick,” opined former Springbok captain and kicking high priest, Naas Botha. “The question that needs to be asked is whether those who chase the kicks are making smart decisions.
“I don’t care how good you are, you cannot chase the high ball at full speed and then jump effectively to try and win it.”
He argues that the chasing player must be prepared to make the almost counterintuitive decision to back off.
Ashwin Willemse, who chased the high ball with more zeal than most, recalled getting it wrong and being knocked out against an opponent’s knee.
“Contestable kicks remain a fantastic attacking ploy, but it is all about positioning and timing. While the law doesn’t protect the chaser with a normal up-andunder, the roles are reversed with a cross-kick, when the defending wing is caught out of position. He then has to be very careful how he challenges because he’s coming in from an angle.”
Willemse cautioned against players contesting more in hope than expectation.
“If you can’t contest, don’t endanger. This is actually a skill that can be practised more.”
Former Bok pivot Joel Stransky said it was “definitely worth deploying the contestable kick”.