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Parks is poles ahead

Parks: Kicking up a storm at the World Cup

As Scotland prepare for their quarter-final with Argentina on Sunday their Australian born fly-half Dan Parks has revealed his secret to kicking.

Born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Dundas, Parks revealed how, as a young boy, he would spend hours kicking a ball between two telegraph poles in the quiet streets of his neighbourhood.

"Out the front of my house there used to be two telegraph poles on either side of the road and I used to basically, from a very young age, kick a ball every afternoon by myself and I pretty much did that till I was 16 years old," Parks told IRB.

"It wasn't because I was practising it was because it was something I liked doing."

What started as a hobby for the former Australian U21 player has proved to be a key element in his kicking ability now.

Scotland kicking coach Duncan Hodge, who played at fly-half for his country, said the two kickers, Parks and Chris Paterson, knew exactly what they were doing.

"They know their own games well enough at this stage of their careers and it's more about me helping if they want anything," Hodge said.