FEATURE Why Jake Gordon could answer Australia's scrum-half quandary

Joe Schmidt is bedding in to his new surroundings. Slowly, and one baby step at a time. He is tentative, not quite sure whether the evidence of the Wallabies’ early-exit World Cup is to be believed, or the form lines within Super Rugby Pacific may prove a more reliable guide.

As he explained on Stan Sports after the Waratahs’ encouraging victory over the Crusaders: “[The canvas] is nice and blank and it’s a little bit dauntingly blank, because you like to have a little bit of continuity. I am sure there will be some continuity, but at the same time, we have got to take a big step from where things finished up at the World Cup. Some of what I have seen this weekend is part of that.”

While Schmidt mentioned both New South Wales number 10 Tane Edmed and lock/blind-side flank Hugh Sinclair in dispatches, a lot of attention will inevitably be directed at the pivot of the team in five months’ time.

France’s traumatic Six Nations experience with global superstar Antoine Dupont missing from their ranks is the most recent example of how dauntingly blank the canvas can become in the absence of a top-drawer half-back, and on both sides of the ball.

It is likewise, no coincidence SRP has taken heed of the lessons of the early rounds of the premier competition in the north and abandoned the so-called ‘Dupont’s Law’. The rule was named after the Toulousain maestro and it is a reminder of how active the scrum-half has now become in defence.

Dupont is regularly employed by his club to defend well ahead of a kicker from the rouges et noirs backfield, in a mirror image of the ‘cheat’ lines a good nine will run in attack, anticipating a break or bust made much further upfield.

The most active defender in this instance from the Scotland-France game at Murrayfield is the French replacement scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec – waiting for Finn Russell to make a move so he can rush the kicker.

It is symbolic of just how important the position has become in the modern era. Just as quick-ruck attack systems depend on a high-energy nine able to reach the base quickly and make lightning-fast reads when they get there, so defence patterns will often use the scrum-half as a ‘joker in the pack’; a floating spare man who can make a world of difference when inserted in the right place at the right time.

While the Wallaby selection situation for Schmidt at scrum-half is not exactly ‘dauntingly blank’, it does lack continuity. If Dave Rennie had been allowed to continue his remedial work to the very end of his contract, there is not much doubt Nic White would have been nailed-on as his top choice. But when Eddie Jones took over at the beginning of 2023, that script – along with many others – was abruptly torn up.

White drifted from the centre to the periphery, and his deputy at the Brumbies, Ryan Lonergan, who had been included in every Jones squad up until the World Cup, was then mysteriously omitted from the blue riband event itself. New South Welshman Jake Gordon, who has spent most of his professional career in an arm-wrestle with the Reds’ Tate McDermott as the heir to the throne behind White, also dropped from sight as the Queenslander was installed as both the main man at nine and skipper. Uncapped Issak Fines-Leleiwasa then bolted from nowhere to grab the third squad spot.

While the same faces will be auditioning for the starring role, the pecking order remains shrouded in mystery. White will be 37 by the time the 2027 World Cup spins around, Gordon 34 and Fines-Leleiwasa 31. Only Lonergan and McDermott will still be in their twenties. The only certainty is Schmidt will demand hyper-activity, and Aaron Smith-like energy levels from the two scrum-halves chosen in his matchday 23.

The Waratahs’ Gordon did his chances no harm at all in front of an onlooking Schmidt in the win over the Crusaders. He showed in defence at least, he will have the high energy levels, and a knack for making the big play Schmidt will appreciate when he sits down to select his first Wallaby squad before the arrival of Wales for a two-Test series in July.

Perhaps the first scrum-half to lift the veil from Wallaby eyes was Gareth Davies at the pool stage at the 2019 World Cup. The Scarlet scored a critical breakaway try during Wales’ pool-stage win.

That was the second intercept Davies had made as a ‘shooter’ out of the defensive line in the game – and on this occasion, it had a decisive outcome. Within a couple of years, ‘Flash’ Gordon had acquired a very similar taste for breakaway blood with New South Wales.

The modern scrum-half can shoot off the line and attack, he can man the deep backfield or he can defend as a sweeper in the space in-between. Against the Crusaders, Gordon tended to align as a sweeper in centre-field, in behind the ruck.

Where most international nines are now located in the tramlines and stay on the edge, eventually retiring to the backfield, Gordon is positioned at the tail of the line, ready to rush out into the 10 channel on first phase, then settle into his centre-field role as a sweeper in the boot-space behind the ruck.

He assists in the initial stop on Levi Aumua, reads the direction of attack on second phase and is ready to pounce on the turnover one play later. It is typical of the high work-rate and organisational qualities required of a defensive nine in the modern game.

Only a couple of minutes later, Gordon was present [and very much correct] in the ‘boot’ for an interception which led to the Waratahs’ third try.

Being a nine means sustaining the energy levels to make multiple involvements on the same play – filling the inside channels to pick off the pass, followed by a lung-bursting run and a cleanout over the support player – the nine is often required to become the first man on the scene in such situations! In the 66^th minute, Gordon didn’t need any help at all after a strip-tackle by Ned Hanigan had created a fumble.

His presence in centre-field, in the boot-space behind the ruck also makes the scrum-half the prime cover defender when ball is moved to an edge by the opponent.

Gordon’s intervention prevents Sevu Reece from grounding the ball after the kick ahead and that makes all the try-saving difference on the play.

There will be times Schmidt feels he is staring into a deep, dark hole when he addresses the Herculean task of resurrecting Australian rugby. The prospect will not be as dauntingly blank when he examines the landscape at scrum-half.

There are a couple of solid veteran options in the shape of White and Gordon; a pair of promising younger men in McDermott and Lonergan, and a nine who offers something slightly off the beaten track in Fines-Leleiwasa. The Kiwi just has to find the right pecking order, and the right combination of starter and finisher. Then the Wallabies can really begin to buzz and purr, around a sleek new hub.