What has happened to Marc Dal Maso's Japan scrum?

One of the most remarkable things over the last RWC cycle was the turnaround Japan managed to achieve at set piece especially in the scrummaging department. In the November of Eddie Jones' first year in charge he took his team to Romania, and although his side won, they were totally crushed at scrum. Immediately afterwards Jones resolved to improve it and went and recruited former France hooker Marc Dal Maso as scrum coach which turned out to be a masterstroke.

Under Dal Maso the Japanese quickly managed to turn a meagre scrum into statistically one of the most efficient in the world over 2014/15. All this was done with largely the same personnel too.

Aside from one match where they got completely demolished in Georgia, over that period the Japanese won 116 of 117 scrums in matches against top 20 opposition. The scrum became strong enough to dominate sides like Canada, USA, Fiji, Samoa or Maori All Blacks, famously shunted Italy about, and held up well against South Africa. Previously in 2011 under John Kirwan they couldn't exploit a weaker scrum such as Canada and it played a big part in losing them a close game against Italy.

GIF: In 2011 Japan's scrum failed badly and cost them their match with Italy, but by 2014

when they next met the Cherry Blossoms scrum had been transformed by Marc Dal Maso.

According to Eddie Jones this improvement was down to "changing the mindset of the players", intense "40 minute full on scrum sessions" that he claimed was double that of most sides, and "finding our competitive edge at the scrum" by scrummaging "very lowly and very cohesively".

Video: Eddie Jones remarks upon improvements to Japan's scrum at a press conference in 2014

It was one of the most astonishing turnarounds ever seen. However unfortunately since Jones and Dal Maso's departure after RWC 2015 there has been no legacy left behind. Under Jamie Joseph the scrum has reverted back closer to how it was before. This struggle is borne out quite clearly in the statistics (excluding matches with South Korea and Hong Kong).

Over 2015 Japan played 11 tests, won 83 from 84 of their scrums (99%), won 24 penalties to 18 conceded (+6), and the scrum directly contributed over three converted tries worth of penalty points including a penalty try against Samoa at the World Cup.

Over Jamie Joseph's time in charge so far Japan have played 10 tests, won 47 from 60 scrums (78%), won 9 penalties to 21 conceded (-12), with zero penalty points gained from it. In matches between top 20 nations over this period, Japan have had the lowest scrum success rate of any side but Namibia (64% over just two tests vs Uruguay). Under Eddie Jones and Marc Dal Maso they had the highest since the new laws came in 2013.

Japan scrum	Matches (excluding Asian Championship)	Win % (Own feed)	Penalties (+/-)	Direct pts (+/-)
2015 (under Eddie Jones)	11	99% (83 from 84)	+6 (24-18)	+19 (22-3)
2016/17 (under Jamie Joseph)	10	78% (47 from 60)	-12 (9-21)	-9 (0-9)

The stats don't tell you everything. Under Jamie Joseph Japan have had overall more challenging opposition compared to under Eddie Jones with 6 of his 10 matches against Tier 1 nations, plus another two against relatively strong scrums in Georgia and Romania, and none against North Americans. However you could also add Japan's scrum success has dipped markedly in the context of a general worldwide trend since the RWC where it has become much rarer for scrums to be won against the head.

Anyway whilst the stats prove the point to a certain degree, you need just watch the games to see the scrum has been a significant weakness that has been hurting Japan badly.

GIF: Japan's scrum struggled badly against Ireland in June

Against Romania, Ireland, and Australia last year, Japan lost 8 scrums of their own put in. Of those 6 were penalties, three of which led to tries conceded right from first phase off the next lineout, plus another was a penalty advantage early in the first test against Ireland which was then just gathered to run off early breakaway score.

Penalties conceded on opposition put in have hurt them at crucial times too. Japan did well to concede a relatively low amount of scrums against France, but there were still penalties from those scrums that allowed the French to clear their lines and also kick an important 3 points in that match. For the Romanians in June, the scrum was also an effective way to claw their way back into the match in the second half, even though again there were not that many in the game.

Kensuke Hatakeyama (left) &
Hiroshi Yamashita (right) were
mainstays under Eddie Jones but
disappeared under Jamie Joseph

It is hard to see the same turnaround that happened under Eddie Jones occurring again though. Partly down to Jamie Joseph not putting as much emphasis on it as his predecessor, but also down to personnel and a lack of options he has especially at tighthead prop.

The entire group of tightheads used under Jones in 2014/15, including the experienced duo of Kensuke Hatakeyama and Hiroshi Yamashita, plus also the younger Shinnosuke Kakinaga have all disappeared from the international setup. None of them featured at all in 2017.

On the face of it this sounds a bit confusing as none are too old for the next World Cup, and both Hatakeyama and Yamashita have plenty of experience both at international level plus having played abroad in the Premiership or Super Rugby, and were cornerstones of the most successful scrum Japan has ever had and you would think might be able to help.

But they along with a handful of others from the 2015 squad (Kosei Ono, Male Sa'u, Ayumu Goromaru, Michael Broadhurst), for various reasons have simply faded and now appear to be basically finished in Japan colours. Since the World Cup, Hatakeyama has gone from being an ever present at tighthead for Japan over 8 years to not even making extended training squads, to featuring in the Top League Dream XV for 6 consecutive seasons to now being third choice at Suntory Sungoliath.

More recently Heiichiro Ito and Takuma Asahara, both rated as the best tightheads in the Top League over the past two seasons, have been tried, failed to impress, and since been dropped. Meanwhile young scrummaging specialist Yoto Ioki, who has caught the eye with some recent performances for Toyota Verblitz, but he has somewhat of an old school physique and is presumably not suited for the sort of game Joseph wants to play and why he is limited to impact sub appearances for his club.

Video: Yoto Ioki comes on and dominates the Panasonic Wild Knights' full

international front row at scrum during the recent Top League semi final.

The current incumbent is Koo Ji-Won, who whilst may be a decent prospect and actually has done okay so far all things considering, he is still in his rookie season playing for Honda Heat in the Japanese second division and not a great deal can be expected of such inexperience against elite scrums.

With Asaeli Valu, who seems to be picked based more on play in the loose than at scrum, to come off the bench. Watching Valu (who also has relatively little experience with under 20 starts over 5 seasons with Panasonic Wild Knights despite being older at 28) scrum recently with Panasonic, alongside Japan's first choice loosehead and hooker, getting pushed around even at Top League level is not particularly encouraging for the prospects of the Brave Blossoms' scrum in 2018.

Japan's Korean born prospect at
tighthead prop Koo Ji-Won

Joseph looks set to stick with Koo and Valu in the lead up to the RWC. Although should struggles at scrum continue it is very possible that South African tighthead Ruan Smith, who qualifies on residency just before the RWC, may have a strong chance of making the team as a quick fix for the tournament. His Sunwolves selection certainly suggests that may be an option Joseph is considering.

For all the problems the scrum has faced though, it could have been a lot worse if not for one thing (as noted above) that Japan have done very effectively under Joseph which is simply limiting the amount of the scrums there are in a game.

In November, France were limited to just 4 scrums with their own put in and had zero in the first half. In June against Romania, up until a small cluster of 3 scrums in the final couple of minutes with the result already decided, there had only been 6 scrums in the match and were just 2 in the first half. Whilst in 2016 against Georgia, the match was limited to only 7 scrums, which was a great effort by Japan and well below the international average of 13 per match and a significant factor behind their upset win.

To realistically beat top 8 sides and have a chance of reaching RWC quarter finals though, Japan can't get away with just damage control. Massive improvement in this area is required which we will see if they can make over 2018 where they will face a series of very challenging scrummaging opponents (Italy, Georgia, New Zealand, and England).

The challenge for Tier 2 sides of developing elite level fly halves

One of the toughest challenges for any Tier 2 nation in the professional era has been developing homegrown high quality fly halves of the level required to excel at the elite end of the sport.

In most other positions you could name a player developed in a Tier 2 nation who has thrived at the high end Champions Cup rugby playing for some of the leading clubs in the world. However at fly half there has scarcely been a player in a Challenge Cup side let alone a leading Champions Cup one.

There have been high calibre fly halves who have played for Tier 2 nations in the professional era. Stephen Bachop, a former All Black from the 1990's when eligibility laws still allowed him to return to Samoa and inspire them to a superb win over Wales at the 1999 World Cup, was surely the best of them.

  Video: Stephen Bachop's great performance against Wales at the 1999 World Cup

However Bachop, who qualified for Samoa via a grandparent, grew up and went through a Tier 1 (New Zealand) rugby development system. It's the same for most of the other Tier 2 fly halves who have played in one of the sport's major professional domestic competitions (Premiership, Top 14, Pro14, or Super Rugby).

At the moment in the three major domestic leagues in Europe the only Tier 2 fly halves are the USA's Aj MacGinty with Sale (who was born and raised in Ireland) and Fiji's Ben Volavola at Bordeaux-Bègles (born and mostly raised in Australia). In previous years players such as Samoa's Tusi Pisi (moved to New Zealand as a small child) and Earl Va'a (born and raised in New Zealand), Fiji's Nicky Little (born and raised in New Zealand), Japan's James Arlidge (born and raised in New Zealand), USA's Mike Hercus (born and raised in Australia), or Canada's Ander Monro (born and raised in Scotland) have also featured.

But to see a fly half play in one of the major domestic leagues who was actually mostly developed in a Tier 2 nation's rugby system is incredibly rare. By my count (which may be incomplete) only 7 players (9 including the Sunwolves) developed in Tier 2 nations have worn 10 in one of those major leagues.

Of those very few that have played 10 to that level most of them did not have particularly lengthy careers as a fly half.

Either because it was not their primary position. Loki Crichton, who was born and raised in Samoa before moving to New Zealand at 18 on a scholarship, made 18 of his 48 starts in Super 12/14 or Premiership rugby at fly half but was more often a full back. Seremaia Bai, predominantly an inside centre who was an occasional fly half for 15 of 150 starts over a long career in Europe. Or Iulian Dumitras, who had a niche as a muscular 6' 3" full back with a booming boot, and made 24 starts over a couple of seasons in the Top 14 of which 8 were at 10.

GIF: Loki Crichton scoring against the Waratahs in 2000

Or they were moved out of position like 7s legend Waisale Serevi whose primary position for Fiji was fly half but in his season with Leicester in 1997/98 was mostly used on the wing only making two out 14 starts at 10. Or simply played only a few games, Canadian Connor Braid started one game at 10 on a short term contract with Glasgow in 2015, Fijian Waisea Luveniyali made only three starts for Harlequins in the 2008/09 season, and Zimbabwean Kennedy Tsimba made three Super 12 starts playing for the Cats in 2003 and the Bulls in 2005 (although Tsimba did have far more noteworthy career at Currie Cup level where he was named player of the tournament in 2002 and was unfortunate not to have had more chances in Super 12 where not being South African qualified held him back).

Video: Highlights of Kennedy Tsimba's career in the Currie Cup

The only player from a Tier 2 system to have had a truly substantial career as a 10 playing in major leagues though is Canada's Gareth Rees, who made 83 professional era starts for Newport, Wasps, and Harlequins between 1995 to 2000 of which 56 were at fly half.

Although even Rees' career in Europe comes with the caveat that a sizeable portion of it was amateur era, and only came about after being spotted by Wasps as a teenager in the mid 1980's after having moved to Harrow School in England on a gap year, plus he was born to Welsh rugby playing parents too so a chunk of his development could be linked to Tier 1 as well.

GIF: Gareth Rees nailing a 40 metre drop goal vs France at the 1991 RWC

The struggle for Tier 2 sides to develop a homegrown 10 is also reflected at international level too in the amount of fly halves developed in Tier 1 countries. In both of the past two World Cups, 7 of the 10 first choice fly halves of Tier 2 nations were players who spent most of their development in Tier 1 countries. If you exclude the nations (Georgia, Russia, & Uruguay) who have basically zero residency or heritage players to select from, then 18 of the 23 players to have worn 10 at the past two World Cups grew up in a Tier 1 country including 13 in New Zealand.

And of those countries that did field home developed fly halves, such as Georgia, or Canada at the last World Cup, the 10 has frequently been a point of major weakness. Just see for a recent example Lasha Khmaladze's frail performance against Wales last November.

Felipe Berchesi

One exception though is Uruguay. At the last World Cup los Teros fielded a homegrown fly half of decent quality in Felipe Berchesi, who now at Dax and into his third season playing Pro D2, is the only fly half who spent his entire development at least until adulthood in a Tier 2 nation now making a successful career in a professional league in Western Europe.

It may sound like very little to most readers from Tier 1 nations, but given how rare and difficult it is for Tier 2 nations to develop fly halves, to have a player hold down a solid starting position at any fully professional outfit in a Tier 1 nation is a notable achievement for the Uruguayan development system. At least for now Berchesi is probably the leading 10 trained outside of Tier 1.

There are numerous clear factors as to why fly half has been such a weak area for Tier 2 nations.

Firstly fly half is a position that it is uniquely difficult to develop a strong aptitude for at the elite level having not picked up the sport from an early age. This is particularly relevant to North American rugby or up until recent years Georgian rugby as well.

It possible in other positions. Players like Mamuka Gorgodze, Davit Zirakashvili, Jamie Cudmore, or Blaine Scully all have had fine careers at the top end of European domestic rugby and been key players for their countries having only starting the sport at around 17/18. There is not so much evidence that is possible to reach such levels at fly half however.

It is no coincidence that the USA, who have long had a reputation for being able to produce fast and powerful ball carriers but struggle to do so in more technical areas such as scrummaging and fly half play, have only ever started a home developed fly half in one (Mark Williams from Colorado against Ireland in 1999) of their 19 matches at the past five professional era World Cups.

Whereas the Uruguayans are known for the opposite with a very small player base which lacks the athletes the Americans have, but have a tightknit rugby community where the sport has been passed down by families and their players have started at a much younger age and stronger technically in areas like scrum or half back and have produced scrummagers like Pablo Lemoine or a fly half in Berchesi.

Then there is the availability of top level coaching and the lack of elite player pathways to reach a high level. None of the Pacific Islands, North Americans, or Georgians have a fully professional domestic system. Whilst even for a nation that does such as Romania, it is not underpinned by a strong development system and a distant way off in standard to any of the major Tier 1 leagues. In the short to medium term the prospect of any Tier 2 domestic league becoming of high enough standard to be considered a major league in its own right looks remote.

All this would be relevant to Tier 2 players in any position but it is even more so at fly half which relies upon vision and decision making skills to a far larger degree. It is extremely hard if not impossible to gain the skills to the required level to reach the elite without the training and experience at a level more demanding than the Japanese Top League or Romanian SuperLiga.

There is a reason the Japanese, who unlike the North Americans have a system where most of their players would have started at a younger age so do not have that disadvantage, have still selected a first choice fly half schooled in New Zealand for the past four World Cups. Reports about the standard of coaching there at grassroots and University level have often not been particularly complimentary either.

Whilst realistically very few fly halves developed in Tier 2 nations have been good enough any of these major leagues, for those that may have had potential and perhaps could been good enough there are still more further challenges.

Every squad will have around 8 to 10 props and back rowers in their squad, but only 2 or 3 players whose primary position is fly half. So even though prop, or at least scrummaging props, has not historically been an easy position for some Tier 2 sides to produce high quality players there is a lesser standard required to get a chance to play in a major league with so many more spots to fill. A club like Leicester gave a contract to a tighthead of the level of Chris Baumann, or a club like Saracens signed Titi Lamositele as a project based purely on his potential.

The equivalent simply does not happen at fly half. When Georgia's U20 side won the World Rugby Junior Trophy in dominant fashion in 2015 nearly the entire pack was signed up on Espoirs contracts by Top 14 clubs within a couple of weeks. Whilst there was no interest at all in the fly half Rezi Jintchvelashvili who also shone throughout that tournament.

Video: Rezi Jintchvelashvili at the U20 Trophy in 2015

Other barriers to player from some Tier 2 nations has also included language which is more likely to be an issue for fly halves where communication is of more importance. One example of this being the case was with Japan's gifted distributor Harumichi Tatekawa who signed as a 10 or 12 for the Brumbies in 2013 on the recommendation of Eddie Jones. But with reportedly Tatekawa's limited language ability a hindrance he never got a minute of Super Rugby and his time was reduced to a couple of pre-season warm up games out of position on the wing.

Then there are of course foreign player restrictions, which are often particularly strict in Union run systems which makes it nearly impossible to play at an elite domestic level in certain countries. This factor badly stunted Kennedy Tsimba's career at Super 12 level, and also severely restricted Loki Crichton's international career with Samoa which had to be delayed until he left New Zealand. For most though this is a barrier that will stop them ever being even considered in the first place.

To sign an overseas 10 from a Tier 2 nation with little or no top level experience plus in some cases possibly limited language would very much be a project signing and it is a risk and investment very few sides have ever opted to take. However there are more hopeful signs for the near future that we could see some fly halves from developed in Tier 2 nations go on to succeed at the top level with some upcoming highly rated prospects that could breakthrough.

On his final press conference as Japan coach in 2015 the player Eddie Jones singled out as the young player who "could really make a dent at the 2019 World Cup" was Panasonic Wild Knights fly half (then at Tsukuba University) Takuya Yamasawa of whom he said "his catch and pass skills, his running skills, and his sense of space is as good as I've seen for a 20 year old" and "reminds me of a young Michalak".

GIF: Yamasawa scoring his first Top League try for Panasonic Wild Knights

Yamasawa was linked to a move to Racing 92 in 2016, but instead stayed in Japan where he became the first player to play in the Top League whilst still at University. There are numerous issues with Japan's Super Rugby project (one being that it has been done whilst completely neglecting to improve their own domestic system) but at least one positive in the immediate term is players such as Yamasawa should be able to gain experience at a high level without needing to move abroad.

USA also have a prospect in Ben Cima who has long been viewed as their potential homegrown fly half. Cima was born in Argentina where he first started playing rugby but as the son of a diplomat moved to Washington DC at a young age. His progress has been being watched closely by Top 14 side Brive where he had a trial in November as a potential medical joker though will more likely opt for more game time in the inaugural MLR. He will also face national team competition from players with Premiership level experience in MacGinty and now ex England U20 Will Hooley which should be good for the Eagles.

Video: Ben Cima kicking a match winning 55 metre penalty for USA U20

The other nation who has some big prospects in the 10 position is Georgia, who with rugby growing strongly there now have a new generation of young players brought up on rugby with better facilities and coaching than many members of the 2003, 2007, or 2011 World Cup teams were.

Tedo Abzhandadze

Notably the young 10 being highly talked of at the moment is Tedo Abzhandadze, who was the second youngest player at the Junior World Cup last year and started four of the five games including the win over Argentina on his 18th birthday. Senior team coach Milton Haig praised him as "somebody that plays a lot older than he really is" and noted his "good decision making skills and ability to control players in front of him and direct play for someone so young". Abzhandadze has since moved to Terenure College in Dublin to gain more experience, that move along with three seasons measuring up against the best Under 20 players in the world should hopefully stand him in good stead to be well prepared for a potential professional senior career abroad.

Additionally Abzhandadze's U20 half back partner Gela Aprasidze, whose talent lit up the last Junior World Cup has also been playing as a 10 for Montpellier espoirs (although it remains to be seen if he will be viewed there in the long term) and there are reports of even more playmaking talents at younger age grades coming through the development system in Georgia.

Finally the young Nadroga fly half Peceli Nacebe caught the eye in the recent NRC in Australia with his running ability. His Fijian Drua performances saw him named by John McKee as a future player for the national team at 10 and has now got him a contract with Bordeaux-Bègles.

Video: Peceli Nacebe playing vs Melbourne Rising in the NRC

Nacebe is certainly a tremendous talent notably with his searing pace and ability to attack the gainline and bring in players around him. However adapting to European style rugby in France as a fly half coming from Fiji with little language (although there are a number of other Fijians at the club to help him in that regard) will not be easy and there is a high possibility he may end up being viewed as a full back or wing similar to Serevi at Leicester.

These players for the moment represent the best hopes for a Tier 2 developed fly half to succeed in a major professional league for the first time in years and help their countries challenge Tier 1 sides. If any of them do go on to make it at the top then it will be a groundbreaking achievement both for the player and the coaches and development system that trained them.