Aimless Kicking

Aimless kicking is a failing that has afflicted New Zealand rugby for far too long. Even the least informed rugby fan would understand the simple proposition that advances cannot be made or tries scored unless the ball is in possession; to kick it away, in other words, is no more than a confession of impotence and an invitation to the opposing team to see what they can do with it.

Why, then, do New Zealand coaches (and they include, of course, Ian Foster) allow – and, it seems, often, encourage – their teams to do precisely that? The loss to France in the opening match of the World Cup was a classic illustration of the price that is inevitably paid for such an avoidable error.