Dropping out from the 22

What the kickers team does

The wise old Guru, as requested and as promised, discusses dropping out from the 22 in detail, covering what the kicker and his team do and can do.

When you drop out:

The conventional positions of players on their own drop-out to the left is much the same as for a halfway drop-out. Hooker is in the 5-metre area just behind the 22. Next to him in a line parallel to the 22 are, in this order, 1, 4, 5, 3 and 7, stretching across to just about 10 metres beyond the 15-metre mark. They are in a line and they run directly to where the ball should drop. Wide of 7 is No.8 who will not go directly to the ball but will rather judge the situation and either come into the attack between backs and forwards should you win the ball, or, in defence, will run towards the opposing fly-half.

The fly-half drops-out from somewhere near the middle. On his inside, the same side as the forwards, will be 13 and then 12 who, on the kick, move up to defend against their opposing backs, with No.8. Right-wing is wider and a little deeper approximately on the far 15-metre mark. Left-wing is back near the tryline on the left-hand side of the field while fullback is behind fly-half near the tryline level with left-wing.

Object:

Those receiving the ball obviously want to gain and retain possession in order to attack. They will try to keep away from the touchlines as, if they were they to be forced into touch, they would give away a line-out and thus possession. Most sides will try to move to the midfield so that they have attacking options on left and right.
 
When you receive a kick-off, put one man on the 22 to mark the kicker to prevent his dropping out to himself and even to prevent his kicking to the unexpected side. He must not try to rush down the kick for often that back-fires and gives the kickers a loose ball from which they can attack. This player who blocks the kicker normally stands on the outside of the kicker, forcing him to kick towards his forwards.

Those kicking off want to put the receivers under pressure in order to effect a turnover; if you fail to achieve a turnover, the pressure must be such as to close down the opposing players, trying to force errors or at least slow down the ball. Defence lines must be called, blindside marked (by 2 and a wing) discipline is of paramount importance. On chasing the kick, the players run from outside, inside, in a pincer movement towards the ball.

Kicker's options:

1. High kick landing on the five-metre line 10 metres from the 22 on the same side as your forwards are.
2. Deep kick towards the touchline behind the opposing wing on either side of the field.
3. Deep midfield kick (this has obvious disadvantages opening you up to counter-attack).
4. A short kick from 10 to a centre just inside or outside him, taken only when the opposing players are not marking the kicker sufficiently well. The kick just crosses the line and is not higher than the receiver's hands. No.8 can be used here instead of a centre.
5. A short kick from 10 to himself. The kick is only inches high and just crosses the line. He kicks it, picks it up and immediately passes it to 8, 12 or 13.
6. Here is one I like enormously: put your tight forwards on the inside of 10; 10 kicks very short to the forwards on his immediate left; the forward who catches the ball immediately goes down on it and the others ruck over him and, voila, there is your turnover ball. It works, I promise you! Use your loose forwards to attack down one side or play to your backs on the other side - you can combine the two.
7. A quick kick-off. Immediately there is a touchdown for a 22, the nearest player grabs the ball, throws a long pass to his drop-kicker who is sprinting for the 22 and he belts the ball deep behind the opponents who are flat and up from their assault on your line.
8. Same as 7 but the kicker takes a short kick to himself. This kick can be successfully taken anywhere on the 22, even from the corners, the last place anyone would expect.

Kick number 2 is probably the most used. I like 5, 6, 7 and 8.

It is important for the kicking side to work out its defence lines from a restart.

Some sides work on one player being ahead of his mates to leap up to a short but high and wide kick to tap it back to supporting players behind. I have seen this done very successfully (it can be easily practised) but, equally, I have seen it backfire where the tap-down is taken by the opponents who run beyond the ball, as they are entitled to do, and take the ball on your side. Very embarrassing.

Obviously all the players on the side kicking off must be aware of all the options that could be used.