Analysis: Box-kick blues

The animosity between Warren Gatland and his New Zealand counterpart Steve Hansen boiled over this week after the tourists’ head coach accused the All Blacks of targeting Conor Murray while the Ireland scrum-half was kicking.

Gatland said: “From my point of view, if someone pushes him [Murray] afterwards, that’s fine but diving at his leg?

“I know other teams have used that in the past and I think Joe [Schmidt] has come out and was pretty critical about that being a tactic which other teams have used against Conor.

“It’s just a safety issue for me. I’d hate to see someone dive at his leg and have him blow a knee and then wreck his rugby career.”

Hansen was so incensed that he called a radio station in New Zealand to accuse Gatland of being “desperate” while the player concerned, Jerome Kaino, said the contact had been accidental and insisted, “I never go into a game thinking that I am going to target someone and intentionally hurt them.”

But what exactly is the ‘box-kick’ skill Murray was trying to execute, why has it become so common in rugby and is it time to look at changing the rules?

What is a box-kick?

Teams are increasingly using the high, contested kick from just behind the ruck as an attacking tactic. From most positions on the field, teams are electing to forsake constructive attacking play in favour of a kick that lands 30 metres downfield to be contested by, usually, both sides’ wingers. As the ball is launched skywards, wingers (and others) give chase hoping to win possession further upfield, to knock the opposing catcher into touch, or to put the opposition under pressure far downfield.

Why is it so popular? 

The current rules of the game make the box-kick almost impossible to prevent. A scrum-half standing at the base of a ruck positions players in front of him to block any opposing player who attempts to charge it down. It is nearly impossible to charge down a box-kick currently, with teams’ blockers drilled to be in the correct position as soon as a box-kick is called. The box-kick has become more popular than the wipers kick looking for touch, and the Garryowen (up-and-under) where the fly-half launches the high bomb instead.

Conor Murray

The Irish and British & Irish Lions scrum-half is one of the world’s best box-kickers, and his teams make use of this ability as often as they can. In last Saturday’s first Test Murray kicked the ball 11 times, passed it 50 times and ran just 3 times, a kick rate of 17%. Contrast this with his opposite number Aaron Smith, who kicked the ball 6 times, passed it 103 times and ran himself 7 times – a kick rate of just 5%.

Some teams have begun to try to tackle Murray from his blind side as he kicks. There is nothing wrong with this in itself. The ball is in his possession until such time as it leaves his boot, and with fewer blockers lined up on the other side of the ruck, perhaps the only way a team can limit the damage his effectively unblockable kicks can do is to tackle him or knock him off balance from his blind side.

New Zealand weren’t penalised for any late or high hits in Saturday’s game. A player can be tackled low at any time they have possession. You can’t charge his kick from his kicking side due to blockers, so you try to knock him down from the other side.

The problem is this: it’s dangerous to be hit on the blind side, and especially dangerous to hit a player on his standing leg when his whole weight is on that leg. Ankle breaks, Achilles tears, knee dislocations, cruciate ligament tears, medial ligament tears, and broken legs all can come from a hit on a planted leg. A hit that is low, timed well and on a player in possession of the ball, completely fair within the rules of the game, can badly hurt someone.

Here, Murray lines up for a box-kick from just outside the Lions 22

We can clearly see three blocking players in front of Murray on the strong side of the ruck, only one of whom could possibly claim to be part of the ruck, preventing the All Blacks from any charge down or contest.

No protection for Murray on the weak/blind side of the ruck. Brodie Retallick is in a great position to tackle Murray, and is the only option the All Blacks have to make any contest for the ball. If anything, the Lions need to tighten up their rucks to ensure Murray has blockers on both sides, not just the strong side.

What’s wrong with the box-kick?

Using blocking players to prevent a challenge on the ball, first and foremost, is against the spirit of the game. In the maul and in open play, referees very closely watch out for support players encroaching ahead of the ball preventing a contest. They are very quick to penalise any team who uses blockers in any other aspect of the game, and rightly so.

The use of the box-kick has also led to the decline of the speedster winger, the guys with searing pace who tear up and down the wing terrorising opponents and excite the crowd.

Teams more often over the last 10 years have chosen wingers who are tall and strong under the high ball, essentially converted centres or full-backs, in preference to choosing pace.

In the same vein, many scrum-halves are chosen on the strength of their ability to kick, rather than on the quality of their pass, break, or ability to run the attack.

The box-kick kills a large amount of imaginative, attacking rugby. Why go through seven or eight phases and risk losing the ball when you can box-kick and contest. It’s a safety net teams now rely on in preference to thinking and working to score.

What’s the solution?

It is clear that a scrum-half is soon going to be seriously injured from a hit on the blind side when box-kicking the ball. It’s not if, but when.

World Rugby will be under pressure to change the rules to prevent such injuries but rather than legislating against legal tackles they should allow fair contest of the ball from the ruck.

Blockers must go and fair charge down of the ball must be encouraged.

To accomplish this, any player who didn’t join the ruck through the gate and is not currently bound to the ruck could be ruled offside. Block fair contest of the ball, and it’s a penalty against you.

Teams would be more reluctant to kick the ball into the sky and would choose to run or pass it instead. Defences would try to charge down the ball fairly and wouldn’t need to try other more physical ways to stop a scrum-half.

These blind side hits are only a product of the blocker preventing the contest- remove the cause, not the outcome.

Chris Traynor is a Performance Analyst, Performance Psychologist and rugby coach based in Dublin. Read more of his analysis or contact him at www.performtraynor.ie