I've always enjoyed the kicking tactic in rugby, so perhaps I'm biased and looking through rose-tinted glasses ... but I have to say I think it is pretty playable... a couple of points I've made:
1 - you do need to give the ball to you're best kicker, because (from what I've seen) there are substantial differences
e.g Johnny can kick really well, and it is regular to beat the fullback with a kick and find touch whilst achieving a good bit of ground. He can get better distance on his drop goal attempts then his Aus counterparts aswell. Even on the Aus team, Larkham does not have the same range as ("insert name for some reason I can't remem")... and with Robinson (i think due to his greater pace) at fullback for England, he regularly scoots about and collects any long kicks I attempt that initially land 10-15 yards from the touch line... I need to be more accurate when playing against England.
2 - on side view, pushing up/down will change the aim to either sideline and pushing left or right varies tha ball trajectory (high & short, lower and long)... whilst combined with this, the longer you hold X for will also help increase distance put on the kick... so you need to find your happy medium between how far you want to kick and how close to touch you want to get with the kick ... (or the fullback will catch them with glee if you go for distance without sticking tight to the touchline)
3 - for grubber's you need to be a decent distance away from a player to get any range in the kick ... if you are bursting through the defence and see the full back charging for you... you have to make sure the chasing players are more then 3-4 steps behind you before attempting to grub a kick past the oncoming fullback, otherwise you get tackled and more often then not make a knock-on. I think grubbers are prob best left for a FH or center to knock wide into space for a winger to chase
4 - Up and Under's are pretty hit and miss, similar to real life, you prob loose more then you win, but knock-ons can occur with them so it can work in your favour
a final point I'll make is, I've not been able to get as much range in my drop goal attempts as seen in the Uruguay v Australia match... I think the Uruguay kicker got his over from from the 10m line, whilst so far my best with Johnny has been about the 30m area ... and drop goals are not too difficult from sideview... there is def a good weigh up between chancing it and missing or running the ball and not getting that try...
I hope thats not too convoluted to understand... I'll reread it and see for myself!
