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As a fan of rugby, I've often wondered why football coaches don't try some other radically different strategies. For example, why not use a lateral pass more? Usually football fans explain it by saying it's too risky. But in Rugby they do it all the time, it's a skill that can be practiced and be almost guaranteed of success if done correctly.

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I would expect rugby's offsides rule makes it a safer setting for lateral passes.

Rugby doesn't have the funny clock business so possession is much less important.

Possession is more important in football, I agree. But I'm saying I suspect the risk of a lateral pass can be much lower than generally accepted because you can almost guarantee a pass completion by doing it right. In rugby, in open play, it's also very risky to loose the ball when attempting a lateral pass. The opponents can then gain possession and attack while your defensive line is not in place properly. So dropping the lateral pass is also very risky. But rugby solves that risk by making sure lateral passes are dropped very seldom (watch a top level game and see. Around 5 turnovers per team are because of a lateral pass that's dropped, if that much).

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