Scott Johnson’s plan to resurrect Australian rugby
An investment in the development of young players will play a critical role in the rebuild of rugby in Australia.
As English and South African players on Saturday tighten their gaze into a gunfighter’s squint, shutting out all external distractions, Scott Johnson is free to cast his mind around, searching for ways of ensuring that the next time a Rugby World Cup final comes around, it includes the Wallabies.
Rugby Australia’s director of rugby believes that is not such a preposterous starting point for the conversation he wants the game to have in this country.
“It’s not a million miles off … on any given day, we can beat anyone,” Johnson said. Unfortunately, on the day in question, the Wallabies messed around something terrible in the first half against Wales and left themselves too much to do in the second. So instead of playing the erratic French side in the quarters and the Springboks in the semis, Australia crashed head-on into an England side on a holy crusade.
Eddie Jones’s team had beaten Argentina in the pool round, Australia in the first knockout match and the All Blacks in the semi-finals. If they prevail over South Africa, they will have accounted for all four semi-finalists of the 2015 World Cup over the space of just four weeks.
That’s seriously impressive. But it also shows what can be done with planning.
Much of Johnson’s preparations for the 2023 World Cup in France will hinge on the still-to-be-selected successor to former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. The expectation is that the new coach will be appointed before Christmas. But that is still effectively two months away and Johnson is in a hurry, especially since he is also working to the far shorter deadline of August 8 – Bledisloe I, Melbourne.
It is the reason he has taken Wallabies strength and conditioning coach Dean Benton and redeployed him to oversee the fitness of players all the way up from under-18s through to Super Rugby and to effectively teach fitness to coaches at those levels.
And even though the World Cup was still underway in Japan and Johnson had a hands-on role to play as one of the Wallabies selectors, he ventured to New Zealand to watch as the Australian Schools & Under-18s side defeated their Kiwi counterparts 18-14 in Hamilton. Coupled with the earlier exploits of the Junior Wallabies side that had beaten NZ in the Oceania tournament before losing the final of the Under-20 World Cup by a point to France, it left Johnson convinced the talent was there.
But as he explained to The Weekend Australian, talent is but the starting point for the Wallabies rebuild ….
What are your priorities?
“There are only three things that I am about for the next four years,” Johnson began.
“One, secure the talent. Two, get them fit. And three, coach the coaches.”
His plan, effectively, is to pick and stick, to ensure some continuity in the Super Rugby program by putting his trust in the players who have dedicated their future to Australian rugby.
The Queensland Reds are the main beneficiaries of this plan, with Johnson helping to secure the bulk of their young squad all the way through to 2023. NSW, too, has invested heavily in youth, signing a dozen Under-20 squad members, the Melbourne Rebels have followed suit, though on a lesser scale. The Brumbies have gone one better, targeting such Under-18 side stars as five-eighth Reesjan Pasitoa and in-demand hooker Billy Pollard – who made Johnson’s day following the Wallabies’ loss to England when he texted to say he was staying in rugby.
Having secured the talent, Johnson is now ready to move on to the second level of his personal priorities, getting them fit. See Dean Benton above. And his third task is to coach the coaches.
“Let’s start with adjectives that should be foremost in our minds,” said Johnson, dissing any talk of whether a coach might be a foreigner. “It should be ‘good’, it should be ‘quality’. Let’s work out how we get the quality. And there have been a lot of good quality coaches who have previously been there who we can learn off and they can contribute.”
What should the Wallabies style of play be?
“It’s no fluke that teams that kick the most seem to be winning,” he said. “Now that doesn’t mean that’s great but what it does mean is that we have to look at it. It doesn’t mean kicking in a negative way. It means kicking to control the game.”
Johnson also wants the Wallabies to stop “thinking” on the field but before Australians shout him down, perhaps it might be best to hear him out.
“There are,” he said, “three parts to mastering a skill. There’s learning the skills, thinking about the skill and implementing the skill. What we want to be able to do in time is get rid of the ‘thinking’ part so it’s just learn the skill and do it.
“If we get rid of that thinking element – and it sounds like a dumb thing to say – so if we get rid of that then it becomes a quality product.” In other words, it just becomes an instinct, a reflex.
What positions do you see as a problem?
“There has probably been a dearth of 10s across the board,” he said. “But we have a lot of good ones coming together and we’ll get a squad together. It’s something we’d like to have a look at where we can actually run a pilot scheme where we can actually teach our nines (halfbacks) and 10s (five-eighth).
“We’ve got Isaac Lucas and Will Harrison (from the Under-20s), we’ve got Carter Gordon and Pasitoa (from the Under-18s) coming through. They’re not seasoned pros yet so we may have to fast track them and that can only be done through proper coaching and investment.”
As it happens, he has thought specifically of who might mentor them. “Guys like Gits (Matt Giteau) or Mark Ella or even Stephen James, all people who could contribute, who know how to play the game. We’re not quite there yet but we’re looking at ways of fast-tracking those individuals.”
Do you have an idea what your 2023 World Cup side will look like?
“If you look at the front row, all the (current) boys are going to come through, (save for Sekope Kepu). Plus we’ve got Angus Bell and Zane Nonggorr from the Under-18s. These kids will be fast-tracked. Because you can’t coach what they’ve got.
“The locks will be the usual suspects. Harry Hockings will come into that, Angus Blyth will come into that. Lukhan Salakai-Loto is another one. He’s about to re-sign (with Reds and Australia). His age profile says he is the perfect age for the next World Cup. But we’ll have failed if they think they are walk-ups. I want them to have so much pressure on them.
“Backrow. We’ve got a whole lot of time for the Under-20s backrow, but there are a number of boys in the Under-19s who have talent as well.
“Once again, Nic White comes through at halfback. Tate McDermott (of the Reds) is a talented lad, We’ve got him, we’ve got Joe Powell. And, like I said, we’ve got a group of 10s who are talented but we just have to get them through.
“Jordan Petaia, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, they’ll all be in their prime. I thought in the first 25 minutes of that (England-Australia) game Petaia was the best player on the field. I thought this kid hadn’t done anything wrong.
“He looks dangerous, he looks big. But he has to accept that when you are that explosive, you’ve probably got to do a little bit more off the field to protect yourself. But that’s education on our part.
“James O’Connor, he’s been exemplary on and off the field. Maybe the fate of Queensland hinges on him a bit, where he plays, how he plays. I can see him going a long way. I can see him going to the next World Cup.”
Johnson frets a little. He’s trying to be concise but that leaves so many names left unsaid. They will get their turn. The four years to the next World Cup will fly by but it still will leave plenty of moments for the rising stars of Australian rugby to make their mark.
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