LONG READ 'The kicking 10 is dead, long live the creative 10.'

David Attenborough estimates that out of the world’s eight million species of animals, one million are in danger of extinction. Well, you add one more species to that list of the damned and add the ‘kicking’ outside half. Or to be more precise the kicking/structured outside-half.

Ever since the game went pro, the kicking/structured outside-half has been in high demand, to the detriment of the ‘creative’ 10. It’s often cited as one of the delineations which separates the amateur game from the pro game. If you ask most supporters of a certain vintage if they’d rather watch Barry John, or Jonny W, the answers will fall decisively on the side of Mr. John – even though both were fantastic players.

Whilst the move towards ‘kicking’ tens had been happening since the mid 1990’s, it’s really over the last 15 years of test rugby where the kicking ten really stole the egg from the creative tens and bred them out.

Over the past 15 odd years, the increase in the efficiency of defensive lines (and most importantly defensive speed off the line) has meant that playing too many phases with the ball-in-hand became a risky business. It led to almost a decade between 2008 and 2018 where the most effective way to play rugby was without possession – imagine playing cricket where the objective was not to hit the ball. The increase in the efficiency of breakdown turnovers also didn’t make it particularly appealing for coaches to commit to an expansive running game. It wasn’t just the increased efficiency in the actual breakdown itself which reduced the options for creative tens, but also in the number of players who were able to execute it.

Pre-2005 the number of players who could successfully jackal the ball in a team, a test level, was in the low single figures. Jackalling tended to be executed by backrow forwards, the occasional loosehead and the odd 13 with ideas above their station. But post-2005 every test squad had virtually 23 human tin-openers just waiting to open up any carrier who lay on the floor for more than 0.23 seconds. It essentially turned the middle third of the field into a no-go area, where only the foolish dared to venture. Kind of like Detroit in the 1990s.

Things have changed in recent seasons for the creative 10, and for the better. There is definitely more space on the field.

But things have changed in recent seasons for the creative 10, and for the better. There is definitely more space on the field. And whilst it’s not the type of extra space you’d get from a six-bedroom in Hampstead Heath, it’s certainly bigger than the one bed studio flat in Clapham North that test rugby had been mooching around in. Much of that space has come from the introduction of the 50:22, which has certainly created more attacking opportunities for players in their own half – due to the back three having to drop deeper for the kick return.

Over the past few seasons the number of phases being run from within a team’s half is noticeably higher than it was in previous seasons – even to the point where we’ve become so accustomed to teams kicking in their own half, than any passing almost seems reckless. We have also seen more of a reliance on intricate passing in midfield, where multiple pods must be linked with hands not feet.

Also, with the increased efficiency of the rolling maul as a scoring opportunity, there is seemingly less reliance on shots at goal (a choice that Leinster may still regret) something that was a key attribute of the kicking/structural 10. Plus, a move to 6:2 bench splits may also have killed off the kicking 10, in that those backs who are selected need to be multi-skilled and multi-positional – not just what could be perceived as a one dimensional outside-half who can’t play anywhere else. All of which have led to a resurgence in the role of the creative 10.

The 2025 British and Irish selections are a great example of the change in the role at ten. The 2025 Lions are taking Finn Russell, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith. All of which would consider creative tens, not merely kicking tens. Especially Finn Russell and Marcus Smith. Both of whom at various stages into their careers have been criticised for being more carless with the ball than a toddler with a Kinder Suprise.

The creativity vibes are spreading wide and far. In New Zealand, Damian McKenzie is now the starting ten – a player who once had a more reckless creative reputation than Salvador Dali.

Yet now, a few years further into their careers, and with some of the law tweaks falling in their favour, their skills are now far more appreciated than they would have been on the last Lions’ tour for example. All of the above may seem like the vague nonsense of a rugby columnist with form for vague nonsense, but you could genuinely argue that there are no kicking/structured 10 left in British & Irish test rugby. The days of Jonathan Sexton, Dan Biggar, Owen Farrell etc. seem long gone – even though two are still technically playing. Even Sam Prendergast, who is often labelled as a structured ten, or a system ten, has exquisite passing skills and is hardly a ‘kick it first’ merchant.

But this of course isn’t a phenomenon that just affects teams in Britain and Ireland. The creativity vibes are spreading wide and far. In New Zealand, Damian McKenzie is now the starting ten – a player who once had a more reckless creative reputation than Salvador Dali. It’s the same in France with Romain Ntamack and his understudies. Australia have Noah Lolesio and Ben Donaldson. The Pumas are finally seeing the joys of selecting Tomás Albornoz, and of course Italy have Paolo Garbisi.

But perhaps the greatest barometer by which to measure how much the pendulum has swung at outside half, is South Africa. The Boks arguably had the heaviest reliance on a structured kicking ten over the past decade, with the incredibly solid Handré Pollard at ten. But they too have had their head turned by the half-man half-eel Manie Libbock and will undoubtedly have their heads turned full 360 with the incredible Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

It wasn’t the fault of the ‘kicking tens’ that they played in the way they did – the rugby environment of the day dictated it. And there is absolutely nothing of course to suggest that those more strategic outside halves couldn’t have adapted to a more open game. But there is no doubt that the rise of the creative 10 is great for game. Welcome back, ballers.