N
Newter
Guest
Just watched this video of Japan’s last second victory over close rivals Georgia (Japan is 15th and Georgia 17th on the IRB world rankings).
It’s a real spectacle. The Brave Blossoms have Eddie Jones written all over them. It made me see pretty clearly how Robbie Deans has changed the way the Wallabies play since Jones had them between 2001 and 2005.
I was curious to see what influence Jones has had on the Brave Blossoms since the Pacific Nations Cup when they lost all 3 Tests to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga (albeit narrowly in each case). Well he’s had a massive influence. They play exactly like the Brumbies of the early 2000s. In attack they avoid the ruck as much as possible, all the play running off their No 10 who has runners from deep to dent the line and get continuity. The forwards are pretty small but their job isn’t to carry, it’s to get to the ruck quicker than the other side and give their 9 fast ball. The 9 never runs the ball. They rarely kick. In defence they don’t go after the dominant tackle, just drag their man down and try for a pilfer.
It’s very familiar to anyone who watched the Brumbies in the Gregan-Larkham era, or the Wallabies under Eddie Jones. No physical battles, just lots of running off the ball and set plays for the No 10 to keep throwing at the defence until it gives up a break or a penalty.
You have to admire the way Eddie does this. Georgia should have smashed Japan in this Test. They are at least half again as strong as the Japanese, man for man. Big Georgian units, legs like tree trunks, pushing through tackles and just picking up and manhandling the Japanese runners.
But Japan won the game, even dominated play for most of the Test match. Their structure looked good. They kept getting forward phase by phase, and looked very organised and pretty confident. The halfback is sharp and has a snappy pass. The flyhalf is assured, willing to run the ball into the defensive wall if need be, and makes good decisions. They snared a try from their own goal line by playing fast from the ruck and supporting well.
It all poses some questions, at least for me. Can Eddie actually take the Brave Blossoms into the IRB top 10? And is the Robbie Deans style better?
To rise in the IRB rankings Eddie is going to have to beat Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. To get up into the top 10 he’ll have to knock off Scotland and Italy as well.
I don’t think they’ll get ahead of Italy, who now attack very well on top of a world class scrum. But they could definitely beat Wales on their Japanese tour next year, and with a bit more strength and conditioning they’ll get more and more linebreaks out wide. He’s got two players in Super rugby squads, Shota Horie the hooker at the Melbourne Rebels and Fumiaki Tanaka at the Highlanders. That will raise their standards, maybe get them a bit stronger and fitter and faster.
If Eddie can upskill enough of his squad to make them attractive to professional teams in Europe and Super rugby, he might get some more rapid progress. I’d like to see his flyhalf Kosei Ono get a chance. But without that, there’s not much Eddie can do more than he’s already done.
Also this game clarified for me how differently Robbie has had the Wallabies playing, compared to the Eddie Jones era. The Wallabies used to play like the Brave Blossoms – I remembre John Roe at blindside, constantly conceding the gainline in every tackle. George Gregan never made a dominant hit, but just dragged his man down after giving up a meter. Our strategy was George Smith and Phil Waugh, stealing the ball or forcing a penalty.
Whereas now, we’ve really lifted our emphasis on dominant tackling and counterrucking under Robbie’s coaching. We now try to win games by beating the opposition in the collisions, rather than concede the collision and go for turnovers and fast structured phase play off the 10. Robbie has brought in pick and drives in a big way. He’s got us kicking the ball more as an attacking weapon – we never used to kick the ball in the opposition half until Quade Cooper started doing it, forcing a pressure lineout. Under Robbie we win games by winning the collisions, and by being more physical than the opposition. I think I prefer this to Eddie Jones/George Gregan rugby, but seeing Japan do it so well it’s hard not to admire.
It’s a real spectacle. The Brave Blossoms have Eddie Jones written all over them. It made me see pretty clearly how Robbie Deans has changed the way the Wallabies play since Jones had them between 2001 and 2005.
I was curious to see what influence Jones has had on the Brave Blossoms since the Pacific Nations Cup when they lost all 3 Tests to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga (albeit narrowly in each case). Well he’s had a massive influence. They play exactly like the Brumbies of the early 2000s. In attack they avoid the ruck as much as possible, all the play running off their No 10 who has runners from deep to dent the line and get continuity. The forwards are pretty small but their job isn’t to carry, it’s to get to the ruck quicker than the other side and give their 9 fast ball. The 9 never runs the ball. They rarely kick. In defence they don’t go after the dominant tackle, just drag their man down and try for a pilfer.
It’s very familiar to anyone who watched the Brumbies in the Gregan-Larkham era, or the Wallabies under Eddie Jones. No physical battles, just lots of running off the ball and set plays for the No 10 to keep throwing at the defence until it gives up a break or a penalty.
You have to admire the way Eddie does this. Georgia should have smashed Japan in this Test. They are at least half again as strong as the Japanese, man for man. Big Georgian units, legs like tree trunks, pushing through tackles and just picking up and manhandling the Japanese runners.
But Japan won the game, even dominated play for most of the Test match. Their structure looked good. They kept getting forward phase by phase, and looked very organised and pretty confident. The halfback is sharp and has a snappy pass. The flyhalf is assured, willing to run the ball into the defensive wall if need be, and makes good decisions. They snared a try from their own goal line by playing fast from the ruck and supporting well.
It all poses some questions, at least for me. Can Eddie actually take the Brave Blossoms into the IRB top 10? And is the Robbie Deans style better?
To rise in the IRB rankings Eddie is going to have to beat Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. To get up into the top 10 he’ll have to knock off Scotland and Italy as well.
I don’t think they’ll get ahead of Italy, who now attack very well on top of a world class scrum. But they could definitely beat Wales on their Japanese tour next year, and with a bit more strength and conditioning they’ll get more and more linebreaks out wide. He’s got two players in Super rugby squads, Shota Horie the hooker at the Melbourne Rebels and Fumiaki Tanaka at the Highlanders. That will raise their standards, maybe get them a bit stronger and fitter and faster.
If Eddie can upskill enough of his squad to make them attractive to professional teams in Europe and Super rugby, he might get some more rapid progress. I’d like to see his flyhalf Kosei Ono get a chance. But without that, there’s not much Eddie can do more than he’s already done.
Also this game clarified for me how differently Robbie has had the Wallabies playing, compared to the Eddie Jones era. The Wallabies used to play like the Brave Blossoms – I remembre John Roe at blindside, constantly conceding the gainline in every tackle. George Gregan never made a dominant hit, but just dragged his man down after giving up a meter. Our strategy was George Smith and Phil Waugh, stealing the ball or forcing a penalty.
Whereas now, we’ve really lifted our emphasis on dominant tackling and counterrucking under Robbie’s coaching. We now try to win games by beating the opposition in the collisions, rather than concede the collision and go for turnovers and fast structured phase play off the 10. Robbie has brought in pick and drives in a big way. He’s got us kicking the ball more as an attacking weapon – we never used to kick the ball in the opposition half until Quade Cooper started doing it, forcing a pressure lineout. Under Robbie we win games by winning the collisions, and by being more physical than the opposition. I think I prefer this to Eddie Jones/George Gregan rugby, but seeing Japan do it so well it’s hard not to admire.
