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Rugby Union
The Rugby Championship 2023
[2014 TRC] New Zealand v South Africa in Wellington (13/09/2014)
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<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 672435" data-attributes="member: 24910"><p>He certainly kicked a bit less this last match versus the AB's (<em>only </em>7 times), but overall this Rugby Championship it appears he has been trying to kick the leather off the ball! Over the 4 matches his kick/pass/run stats read: <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/statscentre.cfm" target="_blank">40 kicks / 31 passes / 45 runs</a>. That means he has kicked 34% off the ball he has had. That is quite lot in my opinion. It is exactly twice as much a Dagg (17%) - the same Dagg who is himself frequently criticized for kicking the ball too often - and approximately 3x more than Folau (11%) or Smith (when playing fullback, 13%).</p><p></p><p>He does kick the ball quite a bit (though he often uses it as an attacking weapon), but usually doesn't kick it quite as much as he has recently. During the June series (when he was on fire) he kicked the ball 13/83 times (16%), and during the Super Rugby season he kicked it 120/540 times (22%). To me it appears that this increased focus on kicking has effected the rest of his game. He is usually a very instinctive player, but seems a bit unsure what to do when he gets the ball at the moment, and he was delaying his passes a lot versus NZ (I counted 4-5 that looked suspiciously forward...). I think a firing Le Roux is vital to South Africa, as his attacking skills - particularly his passing game - can really unleash the rest of the backline. I just don't think he he has been at his best in recent weeks....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I remember Le Roux kicking the ball out on the full twice versus Australia too. This is indeed backed up by the match commentary <a href="http://www.espnscrum.com/the-rugby-championship-2014/rugby/match/207963.html" target="_blank">here</a>. He certainly wasn't the only one to make kicking errors that match, and he did make a couple of very good tactical kicks too, but his kicking was far from perfect that match.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 672435, member: 24910"] He certainly kicked a bit less this last match versus the AB's ([I]only [/I]7 times), but overall this Rugby Championship it appears he has been trying to kick the leather off the ball! Over the 4 matches his kick/pass/run stats read: [URL="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/statscentre.cfm"]40 kicks / 31 passes / 45 runs[/URL]. That means he has kicked 34% off the ball he has had. That is quite lot in my opinion. It is exactly twice as much a Dagg (17%) - the same Dagg who is himself frequently criticized for kicking the ball too often - and approximately 3x more than Folau (11%) or Smith (when playing fullback, 13%). He does kick the ball quite a bit (though he often uses it as an attacking weapon), but usually doesn't kick it quite as much as he has recently. During the June series (when he was on fire) he kicked the ball 13/83 times (16%), and during the Super Rugby season he kicked it 120/540 times (22%). To me it appears that this increased focus on kicking has effected the rest of his game. He is usually a very instinctive player, but seems a bit unsure what to do when he gets the ball at the moment, and he was delaying his passes a lot versus NZ (I counted 4-5 that looked suspiciously forward...). I think a firing Le Roux is vital to South Africa, as his attacking skills - particularly his passing game - can really unleash the rest of the backline. I just don't think he he has been at his best in recent weeks.... I remember Le Roux kicking the ball out on the full twice versus Australia too. This is indeed backed up by the match commentary [URL="http://www.espnscrum.com/the-rugby-championship-2014/rugby/match/207963.html"]here[/URL]. He certainly wasn't the only one to make kicking errors that match, and he did make a couple of very good tactical kicks too, but his kicking was far from perfect that match. [/QUOTE]
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[2014 TRC] New Zealand v South Africa in Wellington (13/09/2014)
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