A drop of magic is just what we need

TRANGE as it may sound to generations of rugby lovers raised on a fizzydrink, dopamine-heavy diet of high-scoring matches, there was a time when tries were rare enough to be memorable.

- CHRIS HEWETT

The most revered team of them all, the 1971 Lions, were blessed with a stellar back-line bookended by JPR Williams and Gareth Edwards, yet they managed only six touchdowns in four meetings with New Zealand. One of which was a chargedown. By a loose-head prop.

If we spool back to the pre-war years, when the England’s hyphenated elite slept easy in their four-posters in the knowledge that the following day’s lineout moves would be called in Latin, scoring rates made the ‘71ers look like the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1939, just before the outbreak of hostilities and with France still ostracised for various crimes and misdemeanours, the Four Nations Championship yielded 10 tries in total. Compare and contrast with the thoroughly modern 2021 tournament, when Italy leaked 34 on their own.

So where do we turn when we tire of the try in all its common or garden ordinariness and crave something a little more singular? To the drop goal, of course – not quite a forgotten art, because smart players make it their business to keep it in mind, but one that seldom receives the respect it deserves, despite its climactic quality. The latest exponent? Step forward Ciaran Frawley, the demon dropper of Durban.