THE RUGBY RANT
Seeing teams kick away advantage ball riles RW reader Kit Shepard
“Once advantage is gained, teams should run a strike play. Attacks must stay cool”
PICTURE THE scene. It’s the 16th minute of Wales’ 2019 World Cup semi-final with South Africa. Trailing 3-0, a well-worked play has allowed Josh Adams to breach the opposition 22. The winger is tackled, but a Springbok is offside and referee Jérôme Garcès’s arm shoots out to denote a penalty advantage.
Wales are in the ideal spot. They have prime position to score and will retain possession if they fail. They have, to borrow from rugby’s contemporary lexicon, a ‘free play’. Yet instead of bringing calm, this insurance policy triggers panic. Dan Biggar flings the ball to Hadleigh Parkes, who hesitates before attempting an awkward chip that South Africa comfortably collect, ending the opportunity with a whimper.
Garcès came back for the penalty and Biggar knocked over three points. Wales, though, had missed a fantastic opportunity to score seven in a very tight game. They would lose 19-16.
The insistence on kicking on penalty advantage has stifled modern attacks for years. Never has rugby been so data-driven, attacks so nuanced. Yet, bafflingly, aimless kicking contradicts basic maths. There is a shot for three points if required. By forcing a kick, teams lose the advantage at the earliest opportunity. Essentially, they are accepting the worst-case scenario.
When attacks yield a penalty, they should not disregard all strategy. Any game plan, at least for the backs, aims to create the best opportunities for scoring tries. If inaccurate kicking were the most effective route, it would be used much more often without an advantage.
I’m not arguing that teams should play risk-averse rugby once advantage is gained. Rather, they should run a rehearsed strike play. This can include a kick, so long as it’s practised and trusted.
The 2022 Calcutta Cup offered the perfect example of the cross-kick’s power, as Finn Russell performed two in successive phases to create a match-changing penalty try for Scotland. However, the play succeeded because it had a clear intention – to get winger Darcy Graham jumping against a disorientated player.
What’s more, Scotland had no advantage at the time. Russell was not dictated by the referee’s arm, instead trusting his preparation and skill. That process should be followed when teams have a penalty: never run something you would not without an advantage.
Attacks must stay cool, follow their processes and hand-pick moments to kick when the referee’s arm goes out. It is time to eradicate the most bizarre inefficiency of the analytical era.
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