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Alive and kicking

To succeed in international rugby union a team needs a top quality goal kicker.

With tight, rugby league-style defences and good team discipline, a side that squanders its penalties or conversions cannot expect to win a Test match. So what's the secret behind the perfect rugby kick?

Changing styles

As rugby union has evolved from an amateur pastime to a professional sport, the game's approach to the place kick has been refined and perfected.

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Midland Counties v South Africa in September 1906: The fashion was for the kicker to ask a team mate to lie prostrate propping up the ball for him with his finger. The kicker's approach is head-on with the toe making contact with the ball.
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This style was still evident as Scotland took on England at Twickenham in March 1938. In windy conditions the human kicking tee is still occasionally used.
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By the 1960s the kicker placed the ball on a lump of soil dug from the pitch with the heel of the boot. The ball is angled forwards, towards the goal posts, suggesting the kicker will kick the bottom end of the ball.
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As a style it was first used in the 1930s. But by 1972 most kickers, like Barry John of Wales, preferred to kick with their instep rather than toe. This meant placing the ball upright, rather than tilted towards the posts.
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Each kicker develops his own ritual. Here's Gavin Hastings of Scotland lining up a shot at goal against Ireland in February 1987. The ball is tilted slightly back towards the kicker.
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Sand replaced mud as the kicker's tee of choice, as shown here by Eric Elwood of Ireland in 1994. The tee was hand-crafted from sand brought on in a bucket.

Thorburn’s 'monster'

Thorburn’s kick was measured at 64.2 metres and was regarded as the longest successful kick in an international Test match. Wales beat Scotland 22-15.

Click or tap on the hand and drag the arrow across to see Paul Thorburn’s colossal 1986 Five Nations penalty for Wales against Scotland.

What's the secret behind the perfect rugby kick?

Alive and kicking

Changing styles

Thorburn’s 'monster'

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