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VERSAILLES - Jonny Wilkinson has added his voice to the growing chorus of complaints from leading goalkickers that they are not being allowed to train with match balls.
The International Rugby Board said ball manufacturer Gilbert was launching an investigation into complaints about differences between match balls and those used in practice.
That was after New Zealand's Dan Carter, one of the world's most reliable goal-kickers, said players had not been able to practice with match balls.
Wilkinson, England's record points scorer, was on target with seven out of nine goal-kicks during his return to World Cup action during the champions' 44-22 victory over Samoa last Sunday.
But the injury-prone first five said that a couple of misses had left him baffled.
"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. It is a bit like playing in a wind that you can't work out. It leaves you feeling a bit helpless," said Wilkinson.
"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."
Carter, who has a career strike-rate of 80 per cent, missed five place kicks out of nine in the All Blacks' 40-0 win over Scotland last weekend, despite there being no noticeable breeze at Murrayfield. "We've been using replica balls rather than being able to train with the balls we play with," the pivot said.
Wales' kicking coach, Neil Jenkins, still the top scorer in test rugby history, with 1090 points, for Wales and the Lions, was also unhappy at the lack of practice time Stephen Jones and James Hook, his country's goalkickers, had had during the tournament.
"I had concerns before the World Cup when we were told that we wouldn't be able to practice with the match balls until the day of the game," said Jenkins.
"It's always a concern for a kicker, to only get a feel for a ball at such a late stage - it's something we would never do during the Six Nations or autumn internationals. We would have the match balls on the Monday for a game on Saturday."
Jenkins revealed the new balls do not travel as far as those that have been "kicked in", but admits there is no advantage for either side under the regulations imposed at the World Cup.
"It's not ideal because new balls are harder to kick and don't travel as far, but it's something we have all had to get used to and deal with, including the All Blacks," he said.
"Kickers would always prefer to use a ball that has been kicked in a bit. You have to pump the balls up after each time you use them and, by getting air back into it, the ball tends to take shape and is easier to control.
"But these restrictions are the same for everyone, so we just have to get on with it."
AFP
