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1. Into the wind: Kick into the cross wind to create a hanging ball for your forwards to run onto.
2. Low drill kick into the wind: To perform a good, low-drilled kick, the ball needs to be hit lower down than when hitting a high ball. In other words, the ball is kicked level with the knee of the non kicking leg.
If the ball can be spiralled off the foot, then this will add to the distance and potential roll once the ball lands. To work on spiral skills use the following rugby drill. Drop the ball at an angle onto the boot. The foot should be rigid and the toe should be pointing towards the floor.
3. With the wind: Kick with the cross wind (though still blowing against your team's forward direction), to keep the ball close to the touch line so any clearance will not be able to benefit from a wider angle.
Any type of cross wind
High ball: A cross wind and a high ball mixed together is one of the most potent attacking weapons for the kicking fly half (10). If the kick can be aimed at the full back (15), then it should drift away from the player. This can create confusion between the full back and covering winger.
The chasing players should be aiming to run "out to in" if possible. The winger starts very wide and then can easily adjust his angle as he runs towards the in flight ball according to the strength of the kick. It also means he has a good view of the incoming kick.
Kick to the corners: A cross wind behind the fly half is a "no-brainer" in terms of kicking. A ball driven into the corner is the classic call. What needs to be considered by the opposition is how this is defended.
Most sides place their winger to protect this area. Your kick, therefore, needs to pull the winger out of position. A miss pass or dummy switch with the centres (12 and 13), followed by the kick, may well draw the winger up as they might feel they have to defend the running play.
Another option to consider is a kick that does not aim to make touch, but places the defender in a situation that they will have to kick back or to touch.
With a cross wind it is likely that any kick with the wind by the attacking fly half cannot be countered in any way as effectively with a kick by the ball receiver. The defender will either have to run, so you must chase effectively, kick to touch for your lineout, or try to kick and chase, so you must also cover this eventuality.
A low ball to the corner, but against the wind (say from a scrum or lineout on that side of the pitch), creates another set of difficult decisions for the defence.
Do they kick to touch (difficult)? Open up the play by running out of defence (so you must chase)? Or try to kick the ball into the open? In this case, the return is unlikely to be as good as your kick.
Tips for playing against the wind
High ball: A high ball straight down the pitch can be effective, especially if it can be allowed to drift back towards your team. However, it is a risky option, so it needs to be hit very hard. It can be dangerous if it goes wrong.
Cross field long low kick: This skill should only be performed with the prevailing wind with the kicking direction.
The ball is aimed behind the centres and preferably the defending open side winger. If the cross kick is hit right, this tactic should give your open side winger a chance to compete for the ball. If the defending winger collects the ball, any return kick has a good chance of going into touch, giving you the lineout.
This article is taken from the Better Rugby Coaching e-newsletter. Click here to sign up and get free rugby drills, tips and skills twice a week.
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