The Autumn Nations Series got underway over the weekend, albeit with just two Test matches in Tokyo and Edinburgh. World Rugby’s official Test window opens this weekend, which means there will be a far larger slate of games across Europe in six days’ time.
Still, there was no shortage of talking points as the All Blacks survived a scare from the Brave Blossoms and the Wallabies pipped Scotland at Murrayfield after a late penalty miss from Blair Kinghorn.
Read on as we break down some of the key talking points from the weekend’s action.
IS TOWNSEND RIGHT ABOUT THE JACKAL?
Scotland playmaker Blair Kinghorn enjoyed a fine game at No. 10, scoring a sensational individual try that took the hosts out to a 15-6 lead immediately after halftime.
Given how they had dominated the Wallabies at the breakdown in the first half, the nine-point advantage looked like it could be enough for Scotland to record a fourth straight win over the Wallabies.
That was until replacement forward Glen Young charged into a ruck following a break by winger Duhan van der Merwe and caught Wallabies scrum-half Tate McDermott flush in the head with his left arm as Scotland looked for a quick recycle and potentially a try that could have sealed the match.
After referee Luke Pearce and the TMO reviewed the incident, Young was issued a yellow card, which was mitigated down from a red because the Scottish forward’s bicep – and not his shoulder – was the first point of contact with McDermott’s head. Given there is no delineation in the laws between bicep and shoulder, Young was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off.
But the incident again brought a bigger issue about the presence of the “jackal” in modern-day rugby to prominence, and whether or not it was time the play was removed from the game due to its risk of injury and the relatively small margin of error that exists for the cleanout today.
Certainly that’s how Scotland coach Gregor Townsend sees it, the Young incident unfolding just days after he had spoken out about the jackal in an interview with legendary British & Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan.
“That’s the risk and reward of the game. I personally believe the jackal should be taken out,” Townsend said of the Young incident. “Too many injuries on the jackal. Too much risk on where you take someone out.
“We have to win races to win contact, we’re encouraging players to sprint to win that race because if you don’t, you’re not going to be able to move that jackaler. If someone is sprinting, he’s not going to slow down a yard before the ruck in enough time.
“We said to Glen, it’s a world-class bit of player or a yellow card. There’s nothing you can change about it, unless you decide not to go the ruck and let the player win the ball. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but personally think we need to get the jackal out.”
The jackal really came to prominence as the likes of George Smith, Richie McCaw, David Pocock, Sam Warburton, Heinrich Brussow, David Pocock and others started getting on the ball with increasingly regularity through the mid-2000s. The memory of Pocock, in particular, walking into a 2015 World Cup media conference with two black eyes reflected the amount of punishment players can take when they are positioned over the ball.
But where it was mainly No. 7s who perfected the art even 10 years ago, nowadays players right across the paddock have the ability to get their hands on the ball at the breakdown.
It means dangerous collisions can take place all over the paddock, the weekend’s incident unfolding in similar fashion to the one that saw Ireland centre Bundee Aki banned for eight weeks after he clattered into Seabelo Senatla following a break from a Connacht teammate during their URC encounter with the Stormers.
Brodie Retallick, meanwhile, will face a World Rugby judicial hearing after he was red-carded for a dangerous cleanout on Kazuki Himeno during the All Blacks’ win in Tokyo.
While Retallick could have few arguments about his dismissal with the All Blacks shoulder making direct contact with Himeno’s head, such was the Japanese back-rower’s body position that players, coaches and fans alike are right to ponder just how Retallick is meant to move Himeno legally.
While nothing will be done before next year’s World Cup, World Rugby may be forced to look seriously at the role of the jackal and its suitability moving forward thereafter.
For the moment, it is incumbent on coaches and players to refine their techniques as best as possible. But it’s hard to see how similar incidents to that which saw Young yellow-carded at the weekend won’t continue into the future.
MCDERMOTT MUDDIES WALLABIES’ NO. 9 THINKING
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said before the weekend that his plan was to “rotate” the 9s, with Tate McDermott given first crack at scrum-half in the 16-15 win over Scotland.
McDermott had played sparing little rugby in recent months, the Reds skipper stuck behind both Nic White and Jake Gordon during the Rugby Championship.
But he made an immediate impact at Murrayfield, opening up the Scottish defence in just the third minute after an absorbing opening stanza when both teams looked to attack. McDermott caught Scottish ruck defence napping with a right-foot step, charged into the backfield before he then chipped over the top and into the hosts’ in-goal where the ball was cleaned up by Darcy Graham.
The Queenslander’s sharp footwork and acceleration made him a continual threat while he was on the paddock, before he was eventually replaced by White following the incident that saw Young yellow-carded.
However, the weakness in McDermott’s games was also on display as his poor scrumbase pass was largely responsible for Kinghorn’s try immediately after halftime.
From a perfect scrum platform, McDermott’s clearing pass was low and out in front of Hunter Paisami, which set in motion a sequence of poor passes that saw Bernard Foley under huge pressure, the fly-half spilling the ball that Kinghorn would ultimately toe ahead masterfully for Scotland’s second try.
McDermott’s selection will always carry risk-reward as a result. He is brilliant with ball in hand and a real game-changer because of his running game, but the lack of accuracy and speed on his pass remains a huge concern.
“We knew that Tate could run and open them up, and he found a lot of space,” Rennie said of McDermott. “It was messy around the back of the ruck and it was messy around the A zone, so he got a lot of ball bobbling around and they came through and put pressure on, so that affects the quality of his pass and that combination with Bernard.
“So, we’ll have a decent look at the footage on the flight home, but I’m happy with their [McDermott and Foley] contribution.”
Given the size of the French pack, McDermott’s ability to dart around the ruck could be invaluable in Paris next weekend. But a lot of work still needs to go into his pass if he is shuffle up the Wallabies No. 9 pecking order going forward.
JAPAN PROVE THEIR RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP WORTH ONCE AGAIN
A packed Tokyo Olympic Stadium, fans decked out in red and white; an exhilarating 80 minutes of rugby that included a Japanese comeback and the very real threat of a late upset: What more could you have asked for from Saturday’s Test between the Brave Blossoms and All Blacks?
After three tight games between a Japan XV and Australia A, it was feared the Brave Blossoms may be thrashed by an All Blacks side full of renewed confidence after their closing wins in the Rugby Championship. And while that prospect was very much a reality early on, Japan’s fightback showed just how far they come in recent years.
Let my outstanding flanker Kazuki Himeno and Australian-born centre Dylan Riley, the Brave Blossoms were resilient in defence – they made 86% of their 232 tackles – and also produced moments of sparkling attacking play, none better than Riley’s flick-pass offload that put Yutaka Nagare over.
While the upset victory never eventuated, Japan again showed that they are improving all the time while a packed house must surely have SANZAAR thinking about how lucrative the Asian market might be.
Nothing will change before next year’s World Cup, but there appears to be a growing chorus of support for Japan to join the Rugby Championship from 2025. The Brave Blossoms’ pool clash with Argentina at next year’s World Cup could have significant meaning beyond the make-up of the quarterfinals in France.
In the meantime, Japan must continue to front up against England and France when they venture to Twickenham and Toulouse in the coming weeks. They can ill-afford another blowout loss like the 62-5 defeat they suffered against Ireland at the same juncture last year, just a couple of weeks after they had pushed the Wallabies in Oita.