'Financially there's massive incentives for those type of uncapped players': Why Japan is a growing threat to Australian Rugby
Brave Blossoms coach Jamie Joseph has offered an alarming insight into why the increasing player drain to Japan is becoming a huge headache for Australian rugby.
On top of Brisbane product James Moore excelling for Japan at the 2019 World Cup, Joseph last week selected three more Australians in his 50-man training squad after in-form centre Dylan Riley and classy back-rowers Jack Cornelsen and Ben Gunter all became eligible for defection.
As if the exodus of Test stars including incumbent Wallabies captain Michael Hooper and fellow World Cup stalwarts Will Genia, Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper to Japan wasn’t already a major worry, the prospect of more and more of Australia’s brightest young prospects chasing millions of Yen could prove catastrophic long term.
Stressing he wasn’t specifically talking about the Australians in his squad, Joseph admitted “financially there’s massive incentives for those type of (uncapped) players to go over to Japan”.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has already expressed his concern, saying cash-strapped Rugby Australia simply can’t compete financially with Japan’s Top League clubs who are backed by billion-dollar corporations like Robbie Deans’ undefeated Panasonic Wild Knights.
Deans earlier this year told AAP the Top League had become the “new destination of choice” because of its unique, back-to-the-future model and the country’s wholesome lifestyle.
Fellow Kiwi Joseph tends to agree, saying it’s not only the money that is that is luring players away from New Zealand and Australia.
“A player like myself, who did play for the All Blacks and then came to Japan, what I did is I fell in love with the country,” Joseph said.
“I learnt the language. I adapted really well and my wife enjoyed it and there’s a lot of people like that now.
“For families and young couples, it’s quite a nice place to play rugby and I guess set yourselves up for the next stage of your lives.”
Joseph can appreciate the concerns about the threat Japan poses to Australian rugby, but think it’s too early to speculate about any potential long-term damage.
“Who knows if they would have been in the Wallabies squad or not. It’s very difficult to say,” he said of Riley, Cornelsen and Gunter.
“But every union that loses a big number of players that leave their home shores to go and ply their trade elsewhere, there’s always going to be a wee bit of a sore point.
“In this case, with the lads that I’ve selected in this particular time, they’ve only just become eligible, they love Japan, we’ve had chats about their commitment going forward, they want to play Test rugby.
“So there’s a little bit of internal criteria that’s important to us as coaches before we actually select players to play for Japan.”
Joseph stressed that none of the trio had been capped for Japan yet – but he clearly rates all three highly.
“Physically, all three of the Australian boys that have been selected in the squad are a lot stronger, a lot more powerful and have been playing rugby a lot longer than the local Japanese guys,” he said.
“And generally when you’re looking at the foreign players, they’re contributing to the physical side of the game, which is lacking through genetics (of the Japanese). Nothing more.
“Or the experience and composure that they show.”
Like Moore, Riley and Cornelsen – the son of Wallaby Greg Cornelsen, who famously scored four tries in a Bledisloe Cup Test – arrived in Japan looking for opportunities after being unwanted by Australian Super Rugby clubs.
Deans enticed Gunter to Japan and Joseph said the chance to develop players like him from a young age was appealing.
He cited Moore, a lock hailing from Brisbane State High School, as a prime example.
“He (Moore) came over with very little rugby (accomplishments) but showed some good qualities,” Joseph said.
“And over the course of two years we were able to develop him into a very good rugby player and he excelled at the World Cup.
“But he would not have been playing for Australia, mate.”
Comments on RugbyPass
harry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to comments