It’s not that test matches now see teams go kicking mad, but it’s a facet of the game being used astutely to break up defences, advance up the field and create counter-attack opportunities.
If nothing else, there is a knowledge that a well-executed contestable kick – one that is the right height and length to ensure there is a realistic chance of a one-on-one contest in the air – is likely to yield some kind of opportunity either from a tap down or knock-on.
The rules are such that they are weighted slightly in favour of the attacking team – if the contest for the ball ends up one-on-one as it is supposed to, it’s easier for the attacking player to get their hands higher than the defending player and tap the ball back towards their players.
It’s simple physics in the end and teams that can kick well now see it as percentage rugby to hoist the ball and chase.
And there is a valid argument that the All Blacks need to find or quickly develop genuine world class aerial wings if they are to win next year’s World Cup.
They have to be able to compete in this world and at least have the capability within their back three to better cope with defensive kicks.
The Boks have a coterie of brilliant aerial wings in Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Ethan Hooker while the Wallabies have Jorgensen and Aukuso-Suaalii.
It’s not just the Boks and Wallabies who have built aerial capacity. Scotland have Kyle Stein – arguably the best kick retriever in the game – and Kyle Rowe and Blair Kinghorn, France have Théo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Berry, Ireland have Hugo Keenan and Jamie O’Brien and England have Freddie Steward and Tommy Freeman.
But looking at the squad the All Blacks have picked for the Bledisloe Cup, there is a definite sense something is missing from the overall outside back mix.
There is no aerial champion. None of the wings selected can say that they are in the same league aerially as the best South African and Australian wings.
None of Josh Moorby, Fehi Fineanganofo nor Leroy Carter proved aerially adept in South Africa, and there is so little contestable kicking in Super Rugby that there is no evidence even at that level that any of them are comfortable and consistently competent at winning the ball in the air.
The one weakness in Will Jordan’s game is that he hasn’t shown himself to be a consistently capable aerial player. He wins a few, spills a few but no coach is ever going to say he’s picked Jordan because of his aerial work rather than because of his innate brilliance when he has ball in hand and two feet on the ground.
Even the tactic of using the retreating wing as the designated catcher didn’t work often enough in South Africa to see it as a worthy innovation.
It left Damian McKenzie, arguably the best and most accurate jumper, grounded, waiting to pounce on scraps tapped back at him, and every team that plays the All Blacks will be confident they will be rewarded if they employ a contestable kicking strategy.
It’s a big missing component and the door surely remains open for a Ben Smith-type footballer who can win the ball in the air while also being a smart finisher and all-round contributor.
It certainly isn’t a bad thing for the All Blacks to beef up their ground troops – particularly when they are bringing in two experienced players with everything to prove in Barrett and Frizell – but the bigger need is in the air.
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.
