I have decided to investigate the effects of kicking in rugby, this interested me because I have heard a lot of complaints about the amount of kicking in today's game. At the beginning of this inquiry, I thought that kicking had a positive effect on the game of rugby. In thinking of this hypothesis, I have decided to look into How kicking has changed over time, how much good kicking influences who wins and what are the effects of kicking in the game of rugby.
How has kicking changed over time?
Over time, kicking has changed significantly in rugby. Early on in Rugby’s history kicking was considered a way to get out of the defensive end of the pitch. A study from Jonathan McCormick says “At the earlier editions of the tournament, kicking for
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The decimal stat means that assuming kicking has no effect that 4% of the time it will. If a team kicks well, they can gain huge amounts of territory and score extra points from conversions and penalty kicks. Kicking well can be the point of difference between winning and losing in a close game.” The kicking game of National Rugby League team the Melbourne Storm is considered to be a key reason for their success in gaining four grand finals in a row and in 2007, more than a third of their tries were scored from kicks”- this quote is from the article “Kick impact characteristics for different rugby league kicks.” Sums up how crucial kicking well is important in the modern game and how kicking has transitioned to an offensive option for teams with many tries coming either directly or indirectly from great kicking from a side. “Saracens used the kicking game more than any other Premiership team in 2014/15, averaging 20.9 kicks in play in regular-season games.” Saracens made it into the final of the 2014/15 Premiership using kicks as their main offensive …show more content…
Having a powerful and accurate kick can pin your opponents in their own halves and make it difficult to attack, Kicking can also be used to put pressure on the other team when you’re attacking and create space and opportunities such as kicking a grubber behind the opponents or kicking to the opposite side of the pitch. Kicking changes the pace of the game allowing the team who kicks more to slow down or speed up the game as they wish. “In the previous season, Exeter finished 8th with 45 points and averaged only 14.2 kicks in play, the 2nd lowest in the Premiership that season. In 2014/15, Exeter gained 68 points, the same as Saracens, only missing out on a semi-final berth on points difference. Exeter’s improved performance was closely associated with a much greater use of the kicking game with an average of 19.0 kicks in play, the 2nd highest in the Premiership.” These quotes from Statsperform show how adoption of a more kicking type of game improved both Saracen’s and Exeter’s offensive and defensive game and was a key factor of Saracen’s Championship win and Exeter’s barely missing out on the semi-finals that season. This is 2 examples of how kicking has greatly affected 2 teams results over 2 seasons and I think that kicking in rugby is having a major effect on how