'Born to kick' - Taking a punt on Irish kicking talent

In two weeks' time, a global audience will be sitting down to watch the latest edition of the Super Bowl.

And by the early hours of Monday morning, we will know which teams are going to be contesting that fixture as the AFC and NFC championship games, which are essentially equivalent to semi-finals, come to their respective conclusions.

As always, this month's play-offs have all been about whittling the contenders down to the final teams left standing and one storyline centered around the struggles of the Dallas Cowboys' placekicker Brett Maher.

During their wildcard play-off win over Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Maher missed four of his five kicks for extra points, setting an unwanted stat in becoming the first kicker since records began to spurn that many in a single game.

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It led to unwelcome scrutiny but in another way, it put the spotlight on special team roles that don't tend to get anywhere near as much media attention as other positions in American football teams.

As it happens, the roles of kicker and punter offer the best route for Irish prospects who may look at the NFL or College Football as a dream destination due to the beneficial prevalence of rugby, Gaelic football and soccer on this island.

Bringing through a wave of kicking talent from these shores across the Atlantic is the aim of former Connacht rugby player Tadhg Leader.

Leader in action for the Connacht U20s back in his rugby-playing days in 2011

Last year, the former rugby out-half launched Leader Kicking to