Kick or hold

[Athilnaur]

My view has always been hold onto the ball in the last minute, but not all agree it seems. Interested to know the forum spli on this contentious play.

 

[Dumbledore]

I haven't actually seen a replay yet so my memory is a bit hazy, but I was absolutely frothing when Foley kicked it. Giving the opposition another crack at things unless there's no other option is a very dicey business.

 

[qwerty51]

In your scenario, hold the ball 100%. However the game on the weekend was a different scenario..

If you're up by 4 or more kicking the ball away is more ideal since you're forcing them to score a try to win and you can be cynical in your defence to a degree and it's a set D line. If you get turned over in your 22 you're vulnerable with an unset D line.

Anything less than 60 secs to go you should keep the ball however but more than that you're pushing it to hold possession for that long in your 22.

 

[Athilnaur]

Yeah could have chosen a range of scenarios and opted for a common scenario - up by one or two points and only a minute or so left.

 

[Melbourne Terrace]

In that scenario, under no circumstances should you kick the ball away. Keep things tight, be cynical as fuck and recycle the ball through the forwards towards the sideline (as in forget the Halfback and actually get the forwards to pick and drive to minimise handling errors). Even if you're pressed back into your own 22, the important thing is Possession, you control the tempo and thus the game. The danger of turnover is less than the danger letting the opposition have a final crack. Letting a desperate team that's just behind run at a tired defence is begging for punishment.

If you are incapable of at least holding onto the ball for a minute without any intention of going anywhere then your forwards have serious problems.

 

[Forcefield]

Grind it down. But grind it down in the direction of the sideline. That way if the referee gets pissed off and penalises you, the opposition are kicking from out wide.

EDIT: Beat me to it.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

The Brisbane and Cardiff Tests give us two very good examples of what not to do. In Brisbane we were going backwards, and a turnover looked imminent. There was no set-up to give us some.breathing soace and put it into touch. White was forced into that infamous box kick - but what other option did he have? Someone should have been ready to take the long pass and send it downfield.
In Cardiff, we were ready for the kick - trouble was that we sent it down their throats, and they were able to launch a final attack that had us scrambling.


It makes sense to keep the ball but make sure we have someone in the pocket ready to clear it at the first sign of trouble. It means the captain, 9 and 10 have to make decisions and execute.

 

[Strewthcobber]

If anyone in the team had a decent kick on them then I'd probably vote for that.

But nobody does.