Rugby: Points against drop goals

WHEN JONNY Wilkinson kicked his third drop goal in less than an hour during the World Cup semi-final win over France, English fans began dancing in the rain.

But not everyone was impressed at Wilkinson's tactics. Large sections of the huge crowd groaned in frustration every time he instinctively dropped the ball on to his foot.

While field goals have provided some of the most dramatic moments in rugby history, many players and spectators still regard them as a nuisance that go against the spirit of the game.

Some consider them to be a cheap way of collecting points for teams not talented enough to score tries. No one wants to see them eliminated from the game but many believe their value should be reduced from three points to one.

Former New Zealand winger Grant Batty is among the many critics who want the points system changed to place the emphasis on scoring tries.

"If it was meant to be a kicking game William Webb Ellis would never have picked up the ball and ran with it in the first place - that was the idea," said Batty.

There were widespread calls for the International Rugby Board to reduce the value of drop goals after South African fly-half Jannie de Beer knocked England out of the 1999 World Cup with five field goals but the board left them unchanged.

Rod McCall, a member of the Australian team who won the 1991 World Cup, said he would at least like to see them reduced to two points, the same as a conversion.

"An attempt at drop goal is something you do if you couldn't be bothered (attacking) or you want to take cheap points," he said. "I'd probably knock it down to at least two points and bring the value of a try up.

"They will eventually do it. They will bring something into line that the try is the main option when a side is in the attacking 22."

Australia's current coach Eddie Jones said he was a great admirer of drop goals but wants the value of tries increased to better reflect the importance of crossing the opponent's line.

"It's a great skill, field goals," said Jones. "Rather than reduce the number of points, maybe increasing the number of points for tries might be the way to go."

Jones also paid tribute to the "exceptional" coaching ability of his World Cup final rival Clive Woodward.

The Six Nations champions have won 21 of their last 22 Tests, spent a lengthy spell as planet rugby's officially-ranked top team, and will go into Saturday's clash after beating Australia four times in succession.

"I think he is an exceptional coach. I think if you look since 1999, who has run the best programme in the world? Undoubtedly, Clive," said Jones.

"They are well-conditioned, well-skilled and tactically astute. England are a model side, and everyone aspires to run a programme like him. He has done extremely well.

"They played the conditions superbly, got field position, and with Jonny Wilkinson kicking goals and field goals, they played a very smart and pretty influential brand of rugby."

Australia will capture their third world title if the holders and host nation burst England's bubble.

"One of the attractions of an Australia versus England final is that rivalry between us it's a great sporting rivalry," Jones claimed.

"We enjoy playing against England, and we want to prove ourselves to be the best side in the world. They are currently the best side in the world, so we have 80 minutes on Saturday to have an opportunity to try to change that.

"They (England) are still the best side in the world by far. We will have to improve to be competitive with them.

"If you look at England's form this year, the best 40 minutes we have played against was their first 40 minutes at the Telstra Dome in June. They were in absolute impeccable form that night.

"They played with width, they played with precision and their set--piece was good. We know what they are capable of, and we haven't achieved it yet," added Jones, reflecting on the 25-14 Melbourne defeat, which represented England's first Test victory against Australia Down Under.

The Wallabies' World Cup starting XV, to be announced by Jones tomorrow, is set to include several changes from that Telstra Dome loss.

But one message will remain the same don't give England's goalkicking machine Wilkinson opportunities to strike gold.

"You can't afford to give a penalty 55 metres away from your goal-line, because Wilkinson is capable of drilling them," Jones said.

Five Australian players missed training yesterday prop Bill Young, locks Justin Harrison and Nathan Sharpe, plus influential flankers George Smith and Phil Waugh.

The only definite non-starter is prop Ben Darwin, carried off with a neck injury during Australia's 22-10 semi-final success against New Zealand.