It's true. Sparta was an early (arguably THE early) pioneer of the chip kick. Indeed, they made liberal use of it in their upset 344 BCE away win over a Theban team that was unbeaten since their own prison shaming of Sparta, back in 371 BCE.
This shock loss sent Thebes rugby into a decline than culminated with their mauling at the hands of the Macedonian scrum in 338 BCE.