
Statistics do not lie, and the ACT Brumbies are seeing the results of their pre-season focus on their kicking game clear as day.
During their 11-point victory over the Otago Highlanders in Melbourne, they kicked the most this season: 27 times.
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So it's no surprise the side's only loss of the Pacific season so far, against the Queensland Reds in round seven, they kicked the least of any match with 13 efforts.
The Canberra team's kicking game will continue to be a focal point over the next five weeks against Kiwi sides and newcomers Moana-Pasifika.
Brumbies backs coach Rob Seib said they had every plan of utilising their kicks in round 11 against the Wellington Hurricanes.
"It was one thing that we really reviewed last year, that we really needed to develop our kicking game," he said.
"On the weekend we had almost everyone at the backline successfully using their foot at some stage.
"About 40 per cent of our possession was from kick return, which is more than any other game, so it's going to be a massive part."
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The chance of Tom Banks returning to the Brumbies squad, after weeks on the sideline with a fractured cheekbone, will boost their kicking game further.
Either way coach Dan McKellar remains confident in his backline's kicking ability, singing praise for Andy Muirhead's growth in that area of his game.
He said the side had 10 backs on the field during various stages of Sunday's win that could kick the ball, and kick it well.
"There's been huge growth within our kicking game," McKellar said post-match.
"Defences are too big these days to be trying to run out of your own end, and there's an understanding of having a strategy and why you're kicking. We're not just kicking aimlessly."
The Brumbies' kicking will tested during their next Kiwi match up against the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.
If Banks does return, Seib confirmed the fullback would seamlessly slot back into the side's kicking plans.
But if not, like McKellar, he backed the options they already had available to see it through.
"It's something we've worked really hard on," Seib said.
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"We trained really hard, really big pre-season focus, and understanding that when we come to these trans-Tasman games, New Zealand teams like to kick a lot.
"We need to make sure we're well prepared, and I'm really positive with the way that the guys have adapted to that at training and implemented that in games."

Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.