Goal-kicking key to World Cup success

By Sam Ryan Forget the scrum and the Pocock v Hooper debate, Michael Cheika’s biggest dilemma ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup is goal-kicking, and Bernard Foley’s disappointing day with the boot in Mendoza has only added to that. Before we look at Australia and their options, let’s have a look at some numbers. In the semi finals and final of the past three World Cups, just 14 tries have been scored - an average of 1.5 tries per match. During the knockout stages of the 2003 World Cup, eventual winners England missed just five shots at goal in three matches. In 2007, South Africa missed four shots and in 2011 New Zealand failed on just three occasions. With this year’s World Cup likely to be one of the closest in history, goal-kicking will most likely be the difference between bringing Bill back to Australian shores or finishing 2015 far earlier then Michael Cheika and his Wallabies would like. Sure, field position, discipline, defence and the Wallabies performance a
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