Why restarts deserve serious analysis
A restart follows every score, and a drop-out follows every attack that dies in the in-goal, so a match hands both teams a steady stream of possessions that rarely get the training care given to scrums and lineouts. Each one can be won or lost, and each one moves the game up or down the field, but at club level the plan is often just kick it deep and chase. Counting your own is the first step: tally the restarts across your matches and you will know how many possessions this part of the game gave away or won back.
Regathering your own kick-off is rare even at the top. Across four tournaments of a men's international sevens series, teams kicked about three restarts a match and regained fewer than one of them on average. Sevens is its own format with its own restart rules, but the lesson travels: the receiving team usually comes away with the ball, so a restart plan is mostly a plan for what you get when they do.
The three restart kicks in the law
The law names three restart kicks, and each comes with its own trigger and its own line the ball must cross. Knowing them cold matters, because a botched restart hands the other side a choice of a retake or a scrum.
| Restart | When it happens | What the law requires |
|---|---|---|
| Kick-off | The start of each half and after every score, taken on or behind the centre of the halfway line | A drop kick that must reach the 10-metre line; a kick straight into touch lets the receivers choose a retake, a scrum, a lineout, or a quick throw |
| 22-metre drop-out | A missed penalty goal or drop goal attempt made dead in the in-goal by the defenders, or an attacking kick from the field of play that goes dead through the in-goal | A drop kick taken on or behind the 22 that must cross the 22-metre line and must not go directly into touch |
| Try line drop-out | An attacker plays, kicks, or carries the ball into the in-goal and it is made legally dead there without a score | A drop kick taken on or behind the try line that must cross the five-metre line and must not go directly into touch |
Deep restarts, the default option
A deep kick-off sends the ball into the back third of the receiving half. It is the safe call: it banks territory, it puts the catcher under pressure a long way from your line, and it gives your defence time to set. The cost is possession, because most deep kicks are caught and the receiving team starts an attack.
Whether a deep restart earns anything depends on three things working together: hang time, so the chase arrives as the ball does; accuracy, so the kick lands where the chase expects it and stays in the field of play; and chase speed, so the catcher has no quiet second to set up the exit. Get all three right and a deep kick forces fumbles, hurried clearances, and collisions your side can win.
| Factor | How to measure it from video | What to train |
|---|---|---|
| Hang time | Time each restart from boot to catch and compare your kicker's longest and shortest | Strike consistency, and kicking for height into wind at training |
| Accuracy | Plot where each kick lands against the zone that was called | Zoned kicking practice at left, centre, and right targets |
| Chase speed | Time from the catch to your first chaser arriving with pressure | Sprint starts from restart positions, and chasing as a connected line |
Short and contestable restarts
A short restart tries to win the ball straight back. The kick still has to reach the 10-metre line, so it lands just beyond it, high enough for your best aerial players to compete. Win the contest and you have possession inside the opposition half, which is one of the best starts a possession can have. Lose it and the receivers have the ball near halfway with your chase committed and space behind it.
The risk depends on your jumpers against their catchers, on how quickly their receivers adjust to a short ball, on the score and the clock, because a trailing team can afford more risk, and on the weather, since wind and rain make every catch harder but the kicking team at least knows where the ball is going.
Drop-out strategy
Both drop-outs give the kicking team the choice of length and direction, but the geometry differs. A 22-metre drop-out only has to cross the 22, and a try line drop-out only has to cross the five-metre line, so the receiving team can stand almost on top of the shorter one and contest immediately. That makes the try line drop-out the highest-pressure kick your side takes: a short one invites a contest a few metres from your own line, and a long one buys your defence room to breathe.
- Long drop-out, deep into the opposition half: maximum territory, conceded possession. The right call when your defensive line is set and you trust your defence more than your attack in that moment.
- Short or contestable drop-out: aims to win the ball back near the line it has to cross. High risk, because losing the contest leaves the opposition attacking in prime position, but winning it keeps the ball and can launch an immediate attack.
- Directional drop-out: aimed at a weak catcher or a narrow-side gap. If their back field has a soft spot, kick to it until they fix it.
- Wind-adjusted drop-out: with the wind, a shorter and higher ball hangs for your chasers; against it, a long kick may not get there, so settle the plan against the conditions before the match, not during it.
Measuring restart effectiveness
Track outcomes across more than won or lost. A restart that concedes possession but pins the opposition deep and wins a turnover three phases later is a better outcome than one that keeps the ball in a congested midfield with nowhere to go. The metrics below make a simple charting scheme that anyone with a spreadsheet can keep from the touchline or from video.
| Metric | What it measures | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Restarts retained | How often the kicking team comes away with the ball from its own restart | The most direct measure of restart quality |
| Territory gained or lost | Net field position change from the kick to the next stoppage | Even a lost possession can be a won exchange if play resumes deep in their half |
| Scoring within three phases | Points by either team inside three phases of the restart | Shows whether the restart creates scoring pressure or concedes it |
| Penalties at the restart | Infringements at the kick or in the first contest | An illegal restart wastes the possession before it starts |
| Opposition exits | How often the receivers clear the ball beyond halfway after the catch | Shows whether your chase pins them or lets them off |
Pressure the exit, not just the catch
A restart is not over when the receivers catch it, because they still have to get out of their own territory. In a season-long analysis of one professional Japanese league team's matches, one of the passages of play most strongly linked with scoring began with the opposition catching the restart and then failing to find touch with their exit kick, which handed the ball straight back in good field position. When that sequence occurred, the odds of the restarting team scoring in that passage roughly doubled. So the chase has two jobs: compete for the catch when the kick allows it, and make the exit kick a bad one when it does not. The same analysis carried the mirror lesson for receiving teams: make sure your exit finds touch.
Adapting to conditions
Weather should change the plan. Kicking with the wind, a contestable ball hangs longer and carries further, so the regain becomes more realistic. Kicking against it, a deep restart can fall short into a comfortable catching zone, so the percentages shift back towards accuracy and chase. Rain makes every catch harder for both sides, but the kicking team knows where the ball is going and the receivers do not, so wet days reward the team that has actually rehearsed contested restarts.