Remember this was largely down to the changes in emphasis in the way the contact/tackle areas were being refereed. Kick & chase worked well for the Boks in '09 because the tactic was being rewarded when the ball carrier, caught in possession, was being penalised for not releasing. Up stepped Morne Steyn..... 3 points. The contact area was being ruled heavily in favour of the side not carrying the ball, so heavily, that even a poor kick & chase would turn out favourably, and the Boks quickly worked out that the way to win was to not have the ball so they kicked it away and pressurised their opponents. The result was that teams were coached NOT to go into contact in their own half, and so the boring game of "aerial ping-pong" ensued. Then in 2010, at a pre-season meeting of SANZAR referees, it was decided they were going to rule that the tackler must first release the tackled player before they expected the tackled player to place, pass, push or release the ball. This gave the tackled player more chance to exercise his options, and his team more time to get fetchers/jacklers to the tackle. The balance was now tipped back in favour of the side in possession at the contact/tackle, and this meant that the kick & chase had to be executed perfectly, otherwise they were just turning over possession. Assurance that players taking the ball into contact would almost always retain possession for their team, gave teams with better running games (NZ and Aus) the confidence to run with the ball in their own half. Evidence of this is clear in the stats Tri Nations 2008 43 tries. 33 penalty goals (note: ELVs were in force, so some free kicks given might have been kickable penalty goals) 2009 27 tries, 70 penalty goals (The average of 3 tries per game was the lowest for 9 years, The average of almost 8 penalty goals per game was the highest in the 14 year history of the tournament) 2010 52 tries, 53 penalty goals