Ball claims will be investigated

Keano

From BBC SPORT

Carter and other goalkickers have struggled with the match ball
The International Rugby Board says ball manufacturers Gilbert are to launch a probe into complaints about differences between match balls and practice balls.
New Zealand's Dan Carter, one of the world's most reliable goalkickers, says players have not been able to use match balls in practice.

"We've been using replica balls rather than being able to train with the balls we play with," he said.

IRB spokesman Greg Thomas said Gilbert had responded immediately to the claim.

Carter, whose career strike-rate is 80%, missed five place kicks out of nine in the All Blacks' 40-0 win over Scotland at Murrayfield despite the lack of wind.

Ireland's Ronan O'Gara and Jonny Wilkinson of England have also been inconsistent with their kicking so far in the tournament.

Now we know what is wrong with O'Gara!!

toomevara

Reckon the only thing thats wrong is Carter, who's kicking has let him down badly thus far....first sign of an AB wobble??

randomname2005

In all fairness, the first time Filipe went to kick for Argentina he question the referee about the ball.

marco_polo

randomname2005 wrote:

In all fairness, the first time Filipe went to kick for Argentina he question the referee about the ball.

I just tought of that myself when I read this thread. At the time I thought it must have been incorrectly inflated or something. From the looks of this controversy it may have been simply that he had never kicked with the match ball before.

toomevara wrote:

Reckon the only thing thats wrong is Carter, who's kicking has let him down badly thus far....first sign of an AB wobble??

It wasn't fantastic in the Tri Nations either. He has simply not being playing quite up to his potential in the past few months.

tHE vAGGABOND

If you look at the flight of the ball of ROG's first attempt at goal from Friday it was like a Marcus Horan had taken the kick

I have read this a few times now, maybe there is something to it?

bugler

Why the fupp in every major tournament (even in bloody soccer), is there some issue over balls (either new balls are unveiled or the players can't get match type balls for practice)? Amateurish.

toomevara

Wilkinson complaining about it now......

Hamo

It still took the IRB to hear a moan from 'Carter' before doing something.... If an AB can't do there must be something wrong....!!! well done the lads in Dublin

Junior

Jonny Wilkinson admits the new balls being used at the World Cup have left him feeling "helpless" on occasion.

Wilkinson kicked seven from nine attempts at goal against Samoa but his two misses left him confused.

All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter also complained after his display against Scotland, leading to manufacturers Gilbert to launch an inquiry.

"I don't care if I am kicking badly as long as I know it is me and I can work on it," Wilkinson told BBC Sport.

"The difficulty can be finding the accountability. You ask yourself, 'is it me or not?'. That is what affects my concentration.

"I missed a couple of kicks against Samoa and both were very heavy. They shifted quite a way, right to left, which is quite unusual for me, with no wind.

"The next kick, you are then asking yourself, 'do I allow for that, treat it as a one-off, or do I ignore it?'

"That is the tough part, you end up playing mental games outside a game, which you don't really want to be doing.

"It is a bit like playing in a wind that you can't work out, it leaves you feeling a bit helpless."

Wilkinson is notoriously meticulous in his preparation for every facet of the game but particularly his goal-kicking, spending up two hours at a time practising.

He said it had be "an interesting few months" since the new balls were developed in the run-up to World Cup.

"People are trying to create balls that are perhaps easier for handling in the wet, or when you play night-time rugby and there is dew on the ball, but also on very dry days when your hands are very sweaty, which can be a lot worse," said Wilkinson.

"It has brought up issues with kicking the ball since the World Cup warm-up games, and it has given us a new challenge certainly.

"I have been kicking better in practice than I did against Samoa, and after the game I just wanted to get straight back out there and thought: 'let's work on it again and find a way to beat it'."

Carter's concern, meanwhile, was that he had not been allowed to practise with actual match balls between matches, a claim the International Rugby Board is investigating.

Carter, whose career strike-rate is 80%, missed five place kicks out of nine in the All Blacks' 40-0 win over Scotland at Murrayfield despite the lack of wind.

We've been using replica balls rather than being able to train with the balls we play with," said Carter.

Welsh legend Neil Jenkins, the world record points scorer, added: "It's the same for everyone, but I understand where Dan Carter is coming from in the sense that a lot of these balls are brand new balls on the day of the game.

"That's not how we do things back at home, we get brand new balls sometimes a week-and-a-half before a game and we kick them in and they are comfortable in a few days before the match.

"It's important that you play with the ball you're going to use on a Saturday to get a feel for it, especially as a kicker.

"The ball travels a lot better, it's got a much better flight if it has been kicked in, sometimes a brand new ball just doesn't fly as well."

That's the full report from the BBC