Eddie Jones Turns to Geese to Get Japan Flying in Right Formation Against Australia
Eddie Jones has found an unusual teaching aid for his Japan rugby side: videos of geese flying in formation. The Brave Blossoms' head coach revealed on 13 August 2026 that he has been showing his squad footage of migrating geese as they prepare for the second Test of a two-match series against Australia, having lost the opener 35-32 in Osaka. (BBC Sport)
The idea came from a specific problem. Jones felt Japan's support play — the movement of teammates around the ball-carrier to keep the attack alive — was not sharp enough in the first Test. So he turned to nature for a metaphor his players could feel as well as understand.
Geese fly hundreds or thousands of miles in formation, following the bird at the head of the flock. Jones drew a direct line from that image to the rugby pitch. "The ball carrier is king, and then everyone else has got to follow after that," he said, explaining that it is the responsibility of the supporting players to read and react to whatever the player with the ball does. (BBC Sport)
For supporters new to rugby union, this is the sport's equivalent of a passing move in football — except the "pass" is often a player arriving at pace to take the ball on, rather than a spin through the air. Get the timing right and the attack flows. Get it wrong and defenders swallow up the ball-carrier and the move dies.
The stakes for the second Test in Townsville are real. Japan have never beaten the Wallabies in a Test match, and the defeat in Osaka was a painful one — three points in it, the game there to be taken. (Reuters) For Australia, the match carries its own significance: new head coach Les Kiss, who succeeded Joe Schmidt earlier in 2026, was chasing his first win in charge. The Wallabies got it in Osaka, even after Miles Amatosero was shown an early red card (a sending-off that leaves a team a player down for the rest of the game). (BBC Sport)
Jones made five changes for the Townsville rematch. Among them, university student Yoshitaka Yazaki was picked on the wing, and Shunsuke Uenobo earned his first start at centre — selections that point to a coach willing to freshen his side rather than stick with the combination that fell short. (BBC Sport)
Jones was blunt about where his team stands. "We're very disappointed to lose the last game, so the most important thing now is how we take on this game," he said. He added that Japan have "set ourselves the task of really taking it to Australia this week." (BBC Sport)
What makes the goose metaphor land is that Jones has form for the vivid image. Across a coaching career that has taken in Australia, England, South Africa and now Japan — a second stint with the Brave Blossoms — he has long favoured analogies that stick in a player's head when legs are heavy in the final quarter. (France24)
Jones will remain in the Japan job through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, having survived a performance review at the end of a mixed second year back in charge. (The Japan Times via Facebook) The geese, then, are not a gimmick. They are one piece of a longer build — a coach trying to turn a team that has never beaten Australia into one that travels in formation, reads its leader, and arrives on cue.
