Drop goal

Rugby union

World Rugby, the international governing body of rugby union, refers to this method of scoring in its publications as a "dropped goal",{{cite web |access-date = 2007-09-12 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071022213228/http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/LawsRegs/0/070110LGLAW09red_662.pdf |archive-date = 2007-10-22

Points value

A drop goal is worth three points, and before 1948 it was worth four points. From time to time suggestions have been made by some rugby commentators to reduce the value of drop goals, or to limit or discourage them in other ways.

Field goal

It is sometimes also referred to as a field goal in modern usage. A field goal was an older form of scoring where the goal was kicked from a ball that was in play but on the ground, not drop kicked. It was outlawed in 1906.

Rugby league

In rugby league the drop goal is worth one or two points.{{cite book |access-date=2007-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224042/http://www.rlef.eu.com/_uploads/rugby_laws_book2004.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead

With the introduction of the golden point rule in the Australasian National Rugby League (where the term field goal is usually used), it is often the first choice option when looking to secure a win.

In the NSWRL prior to 1970, field goals were worth two points, but with the introduction of limited tackle football in 1967, their usage greatly increased as a scoring method. In 1968, 194 field goals were kicked, and by the end of 1970 it was decided to reduce their value to one point. This, and the increase to six tackle sets, saw just 17 kicked in 1971.

On 11 December 2020, the NRL announced the introduction of a two-point field goal for kicks taken from more than 40 metres out. Adam Reynolds kicked the first such field goal on 8 April 2021.

In other football codes

Main article: Field goal

The drop-kick field goal is a rare but still legal part of American football and Canadian football, other football codes descended from rugby football. In both sports, it can be used to score a field goal (three points) or a conversion (one point). While both rugby balls and the American and Canadian football shape are prolate spheroids, the American and Canadian footballs gradually changed to become more elongated and pointed, a shape much more difficult to drop kick. As of 2019, the last successful drop kick in a professional American football game was when Doug Flutie drop kicked for an extra point in the New England Patriots' regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins on 1 January 2006; prior to that, the last successful drop kick in a regular-season game was in 1941. Flutie's kick was in the last game of his career, and he did not usually kick the ball at all (dropped or otherwise) as he played quarterback.

In Australian rules football, a drop kick is a legal way of scoring a goal or a behind, but is rarely executed these days, as punting a goal is also legal and much easier to execute.

References

Sources

References

1. (7 March 2015). "Pat Richards field goal stuns Titans as Wests Tigers take NRL win". Stuff.
2. [http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/18/1182019029423.html Spiro Zavos: "Time to dock points from drop goals".] {{webarchive. link. (22 June 2007 ''Rugby Heaven'', Tuesday, 19 June 2007.)
3. {{harvnb. McCarthy. 1968
4. (September 2014). "Cowboys down courageous Sharks". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com.
5. "Some interesting rule changes over the years. - NRL Game Development - South East Queensland - SportsTG".
6. "Rugby League Tables / Season Summary / All Teams".
7. (11 December 2020). "NRL announces rule changes to make game more entertaining".
8. (8 April 2021). "Double or nothing: Reynolds kicks first two-point field goal after week of distraction".