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'They're not shy of smacking each other': The big change in Japan's development
By Tom Vinicombe
The physicality in Japan's premier club rugby competition has come along in leaps and bounds in recent years according to Tokyo Sungoliath head coach Milton Haig.
While the speed and skill of Japan's Rugby League One has - formerly known as the Top League - has always been well-revered, questions have always existed over the physicality of the rugby being played in Japan.
Since coming on board with the Sungoliath in 2020 after spending two World Cup cycles with Georgia, Haig has noticed the competition go from strength to strength, thanks in part to the continued arrival of foreign players from around the globe.
"I suppose since the 2019 World Cup that was here in Japan, obviously there was a lot of interest post that tournament for players to come here," Haig said on Tuesday. "Now, what you're finding is a lot of the teams have got world-class players scattered amongst some of their Japanese players and obviously with the performance of Japan at 2019, it's creating a lot of interesting rugby within the country itself. With that quality of players and obviously with Japan improving their performances at international level, the whole competition itself has got a lot better.
"Probably a few years back it might have been a bit of a hit and giggle. I know a lot of people used to say it was quick but there wasn't a lot of physicality. Well, I think that's definitely changed now and I think one of the things that I've noticed since I've been here in the three years is how physically the competition's got, certainly at the breakdown and in defence and there's still a lot of high skill level within all teams but definitely that contact area is pretty serious these days."
The Sungoliath themselves are well stocked with foreigners, including Sean McMahon, Samu Kerevi and Damian McKenzie, who featured for Australia and New Zealand during last year's test season.
Alongside that highly regarded trio, Haig also has 13 Japanese test representatives on his books, as well as a number of non-international foreigners such as Tevita Li, Harry Hockings, Sam Talakai and Tom Sanders.
With so much international representation in the league, it's no surprise that the physicality has stepped up a notch.
Some cynics might suggest that while that's improving the quality of JRLO, it doesn't bode well for Japan's national side - but Haig says that bringing in players from around the world has also helped indirectly, with local players now also stepping up their game.
"Obviously, you get guys like [Springboks hooker] Malcom Marx who's 120 kg, he likes the physicality area, he likes the breakdown area, he's good at the jackal and stuff like that. So, to actually move a guy like him who's got pretty good technique around that area, in itself's a bit of a job so you've gotta use a bit of physicality actually trying to get rid of him really," Haig said.
"We spend a lot of time around our contact area with attack and defence but I think there's a bit of both, I think the foreigners have come in, there's a lot of world-class foreigners, very good players here now and I think they've brought that extra [physicality]. I think the Japanese boys have always hid it a little bit but once the role's clarified and technique's made a little better, they're not shy of smacking each other, I can tell you that. So it's pretty tough now, that area."
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“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”
He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.
“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”
He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).
If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.
“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”
Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.
“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”
Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.
“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”
Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.
But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.
Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.
Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.
So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.
Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.
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