right then....off to Lillywites to buy a ball and check if I can still do it.........

...RU types know about it theoretically.

Maybe as long as there has been a 'try line' on a RL pitch?

OOOOoooooh!


Pedant.

Yes, but unless your playing Castleford a rugby league goal kicker won't take half as many attempts on goal compared to their RU counterparts.

Not true is equally important in both and arguably a specialist kicker in RL is more important than in RU.


'"

Hmm. In league, a converted try is worth the same as three penalties or six drop goals.

In union, three penalties or drop goals outscore a converted try. And given the large number of technical offences, you're likely to get many more chances to kick a penalty.


You sure you want to stick by that statement?

Yes I do, because it is about more than place-kicking. Given the fondness for cross field kicks and grubbers that alone would make it just as important. Being able to regularly kick 40/20s would be a major asset even a penalty kicked to touch does not have the same advantage. Being able to direct kicks for territory is extremely important and is routinely done on the last when the team in possession is 30 metres out.

Fair point. Well made.

Can someone answer this question. Has place kicking for touch been outlawed in RL as you never see it happen these days?

12 points from 54 in total is 22% scored from kicks.....if you whant to be pedantic, it's actually 11.88%.........

I'm just wondering how 42 points were scored with ball in hand, although this makes no difference to to the validity of the point you were making.

B0llox

Absolute nonsense.

Your point about cross-field kicks is a good one though - Blobby Goulding spent hours a day practising his kicks 20 years ago and I can't see any reason why that wouldn't be equally true of today's kickers?

Stephen Myler at Northampton RU was a very good kicker at Saints & Widnes, but not much of a player otherwise. He's played for England Saxons in RU, so presumably doing OK. That suggests to me that there's a higher premium placed on kicking skills in RU?

His place kicking %age rate seems to be about the same in both codes, but I suspect one needs to adjust for the fact that nearly all kicks at goal in RL will be conversions whereas most will be penalties in RU. Conversions tend not to be taken from huge distances whereas penalties could be.

Gutterfax - you seriously need to try a Steeden RL ball and compare with a regulation adult RU ball to appreciate the difference in size and pointy endianess...

The two top point scorers in RU Guiness premiership last year were:

C P Total MC MP Totals % sucess rate
Glen Jackson 18 56 74 13 23 74 110 67.6%
Butch James 33 42 75 12 24 75 111 67.6 %

Kevin Sinfield 104 131 79.4%

And that's that.

Leeds Academy won agame recently based mainly on long kicks, 40-20s and otherwise - the rain meant territory was more important than usual

In RL posession is important, you can score from anywhere so why give the ball away?

Pat Richards 145 183 79.2%

Exactly, in the last yawnyawn WC final SA fielded 14 rugby players and a kicker who took no part in running with the ball or tackling. It was so obvious the yawnyawn commentators mentioned it.

14 - That's damn sight more than most yawnion games I see.

For numbers of kicked penalties have a look at the last Super14 final.
Eighty minutes of my life I wil never get back.

It's not like you weren't warned.

some good points but i think the real reason is that there is a specialist kicker in RU who is in the team to do just that and not much else a la American Football.

I bet there are kickers of equal or better standard in RL but due to other deficiencies in their game, these far outweight the ability to kick goals



......e.g. Deacon...

Morne Steyn - the guy who kicked the winning penalty against the B&I Lions has just missed a conversion from under the posts 10m out against Australia.