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How the Wallabies plan to avoid becoming the latest victims of Japan
Already out of their comfort zone, the Wallabies are bracing for a high-octane start to their first spring tour in four years on Saturday.
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Chasing five straight test wins for the first time since the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies won’t be taking Japan lightly in a rare and challenging lunch-time kick-off in Oita.
Quarter-finalists as hosts at the 2019 World Cup, the Brave Blossoms have rapidly emerged as a tier one force with stirring victories over South Africa, Ireland and Scotland in recent years.
Well-coached by Kiwi Jamie Joseph, the Asian surprise packets crave another big scalp and Wallabies captain Michael Hooper is all too aware.
“They have been a force that’s been growing quite quickly, certainly from 2015 onwards and they obviously had a great showing in 2019 and a few really solid performances this year,” Hooper said on Friday.
“They play a high-tempo game. They want ball in play, they’ll look to run things a lot. They’ve got some really good athletes; a mobile team.
“It will be a real challenge to nullify that speed and to take them to some places that they’re uncomfortable with.
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“There’s no joke, the Japanese are a solid team with threats across the board.”
Accustomed to night matches, Saturday’s clash will kick off at 1.45pm local time (3.45pm AEDT) at the spectacular Showa Denko Dome.
“It’s going to be new for some of our guys,” Hooper said.
Japan are chasing their first-ever win over the Wallabies… Would you bet against them in Oita? #JAPvAUS #BraveBlossoms #Wallabies #RugbyJP pic.twitter.com/R6Ty9OUq7S
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 21, 2021
“For a lot of us who have played up here in Japan, it’s the norm.
“What’s unique about it is, you wake up and have breakfast and then the pre-game meal is about an hour or two later.
“So just getting an understanding about how that features in each guy’s preparation. We’re all different and guys will like to do it differently.
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“So we need to have a plan around that.”
After Japan, the Wallabies take on Scotland, Eddie Jones’ England and Wales in successive weeks.
Hooper said the northern hemisphere trek will be invaluable for Dave Rennie’s squad, especially the less experienced tourists.
“We just played four games at home. Now we’re out of our own backyard. We’re going to go and play in some of the great stadiums around the world, the skipper said.
“A lot of our younger players haven’t had that experience before so certainly two years out from a World Cup up in that part of the world, it’s a really good experience for our group.
“These four games present us with a chance not only to build our game and see how we can grow and develop but also play some different styles of rugby that we haven’t been exposed to for quite a while.
“Put ourselves up against that and playing away from home is so critical in test footy.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments