George Fords place kicking

[ellis9]

The commentator yesterday said Ford is 81% this season which is on par to others.

81% is ok but he doesn’t take a lot of kicks that other 10’s would or his stats would be worse

Surely it's better to recognise your limitations than to attempt something in which you have no confidence. Imagine the amount of criticism George would attract if he did attempt those kicks and his stats were indeed worse.

Some posters appear to have short memories. The win against Wasps depended on George kicking the points available in the 2nd half generated by the physical dominance of our pack. 3 opportunities and 3 successes - that's 100% at a time when it was needed.

Exactly but of course, people just have to criticise don't they?!

[chris111]

All modern kickers have blind-spots, Ford's seems to be centre left field to centre right field, whereas further out he seems more accurate. Some other players have similar issues. In the old toe-poke days, the % were very much the other way round. My aged opinion is that the longer a player fusses, the more susceptible he is to error - some of the best kickers have/had simple and quick procedures - Paterson the most obvious example.

Not sure if I am imagining this as I don't have the stats to back this up, but over this season I've got a sense that a real highlight of George's place kicking is from close to the right-hand touchline - on the 'wrong' side for a right-footed kicker. Never having been a kicker myself I am not sure whether there is something about his technique that means he has more success that you'd expect from this most difficult of angles.

Anyway, I'm sure he'll have been disappointed at missing a couple on Saturday, but there's no doubt that over the season his stats are good.

[G.K]

Ford missed two from left of field, which should be the easier kick for a right footed kicker. Stats are misleading as he rarely attempts long kicks that others would have a go at. Simple fact is that he misses too many kicks that he really ought to get, basically anything over 35 metres.

[Rugbyflanker]

Yes,stats don't tell the full story. Better would be to look at a pitch highlighted with where the successful/missed kicks were from like they show sometimes in game. Is there a site that does this?

[L Smith]

The commentator yesterday said Ford is 81% this season which is on par to others.

81% is ok but he doesn’t take a lot of kicks that other 10’s would or his stats would be worse

Surely it's better to recognise your limitations than to attempt something in which you have no confidence. Imagine the amount of criticism George would attract if he did attempt those kicks and his stats were indeed worse.

Some posters appear to have short memories. The win against Wasps depended on George kicking the points available in the 2nd half generated by the physical dominance of our pack. 3 opportunities and 3 successes - that's 100% at a time when it was needed.

I don’t disagree with calibrating your ambitions with your abilities but, when the kick success % is used to compare different players, it’s worth understanding the limitations of the results.
At no point did I criticise George in my post. My memory (and comprehension) is pretty good.