THE MAIN REASON that the Ireland coaches have been keen to get a look at Sean Jansen in Test rugby is that he wins lots of collisions.
This is a key part of rugby. Dominate the gainline, dominate the game.
Curiously, there was a time when Jansen wasn’t deemed big enough to really make the grade in his native New Zealand. But having joined Connacht in 2023, the 6ft 3ins, 117kg number eight has been a weapon in contact.
This season, Jansen has been large and in charge.
Opta data shows that Jansen averaged more carries per 80 minutes than any other number eight in the URC this season, at 16.3, as well as committing two or more tacklers into his carries more frequently than any other player in his position, at 73%.
He ranked second for dominant tackles per game and was in the top three for effectiveness in attacking rucks. In short, he moved opposition bodies on a consistent basis.
Jansen carried this form into his performance for Ireland against Japan on Saturday, with his big impact meaning he has put his hand up for involvement against the All Blacks in Auckland.
It would be special for the man from Green Island RFC to get his second cap for Ireland on New Zealand soil.
Jansen’s first tackle of the game against Japan said it all about his physicality.
The Connacht man starts to the left of Craig Casey’s box kick.
Jansen’s role is to be part of the secondary chase line, following up behind primary kick chaser Jimmy O’Brien.
If O’Brien can’t get into an aerial contest or gets beaten first-up, Jansen’s job is to follow up with impact.
He does exactly that.
Ireland talk about ‘derailing’ ball-carriers’ lines of running, and that’s exactly what Jansen does here.
He levels Japan fullback Takuro Matsunaga with a dominant tackle, smashing through his torso.
The late dip from Jansen is key, getting him into a position from which he can explode into the tackle, driving his right shoulder through Matsunaga.
The Matsunaga train is well and truly derailed.
This first tackle from Jansen set a fine standard for his defensive work against the Japanese.
There weren’t any more spectacular efforts like the one above, but Jansen made 12 tackles for Ireland without missing any.
His accuracy in the tackle would have impressed Andy Farrell and co. In the instance below, Jansen reacts well to a blocked Ciarán Frawley kick to rock Japan centre Yuya Hirose.
Jansen reacts well to the turnover of possession to land his right shoulder into Hirose, combining with Robbie Henshaw, and causing the injury that forced the Japanese midfielder off a few minutes later.
Even more impressively, Jansen bounces straight back to his feet to contest.
It’s an impressive second effort from Jansen as he shows a clear release and gets his hands onto the ball for Ireland.
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He appears to win the turnover, but the ball somehow ends up back on the Japanese side.
It’s unfortunate for Jansen after another big defensive impact.
While Jansen’s ball-carrying prowess naturally grabs more attention, his tackling is a key strength too.
Some players can make a major impact with ball in hand but lack a similar impetus when defending.
Jansen’s performance against Japan underlined that he brings heat in the tackle too.
In the example above, Jansen picks up Japan tighthead Shuhei Takeuchi late as he runs a ‘down’ line close to the ruck, but the Irish number eight still generates power into the collision to stop him dead on the gainline.
So Jansen’s defensive work was excellent, but he undoubtedly made the biggest impression for Ireland in attack as he made a team-leading 12 carries.
Again, he started well in this regard and beat five defenders overall, more than anyone else in the game despite only playing 61 minutes.
Opta data shows that Jansen’s 23 metres in-contact were also top of the charts, while he had a 95% gainline success, second only to Rónan Kelleher.
Jansen’s first carry was potent and he barely let up from there, proving important in helping Ireland to set up for kicks.
One of the things Jansen is good at is picking out relatively weak defenders in the line, such as Japan scrum-half Naoto Saito.
As the Japanese linespeed comes on from his right-hand side, Jansen uses his footwork to shift back inside and accelerate at the 75kg Japan scrum-half.
Saito never has a hope of making an impact in the tackle on Jansen.
Jansen’s carry gives Ireland a clean platform to kick from.
Casey’s subsequent box kick allows Ireland to win a penalty for a Japanese escort.
There’s something similar from Jansen below early in the second half.
Japan use their wings as tailgunners at lineouts, so Jansen picks out the 78kg Kazuma Ueda as Ireland set up for a kick.
He dominates the collision, breaking Ueda’s tackle attempt, and leaves Ireland well positioned for their kick.
Of course, Jansen’s power in contact is key in attack too. He had two important carries in the build-up to Ireland’s second try, finished by Tom O’Toole.
First, he breaks the tackle attempt of Japan loosehead prop Takato Okabe to give Ireland momentum early on in their 20-phase passage of attack.
This is a typical Jansen carry as he uses his sharp acceleration to speed up into contact, something that some players struggle with.
Whereas some players can lose speed as they brace for contact, Jansen has a good habit of speeding up into the collision.
Jansen is also good at dipping late into the contact, helping him to win collisions even when tacklers go low.
It takes good balance from Jansen to be able to do this at speed.
A few phases later, Jansen has another big gainline win for Ireland, once again helped by identifying a mismatch.
This time, Jansen can see 90kg Japan left wing Taira Main in front of him and he accelerates into the tackle with brute force.
As with the carry before, Jansen tucks the ball into his right arm and braces his left arm to act almost like the bull bar of a jeep, giving him an edge into the contact.
While base power is key in winning collisions, tools like Jansen’s footwork, use of his arms to fend, and identification of defenders are also important.
He shows another flash of that footwork above when Nick Timoney frees him behind the Japanese defence in the first half, only for Tiennan Costley to haul him down metres short of the line.
He was denied that time, but Jansen took his second-half try against Japan well, continuing his excellent try-scoring form for Connacht in an Ireland jersey.
Jansen scored 12 tries in 20 Connacht games this season, most from close range. And now he has one try in one Test for Ireland.
Jack Conan scoops the ball up from the base of the ruck – luring in Japan openside Kanji Shimokawa – but then passes for Jansen to power onto it, and Jansen’s uncanny ability to find slivers of space is apparent again as he drives through the weak inside shoulder of Japan lock Harry Hockings.
These final metres can be fiendishly difficult to make up, so Jansen’s poaching ability is particularly useful.
The best ball-carriers have handling skills too. Although he often takes route one, Jansen has a more subtle side to his game.
In the example above, Ireland dummy a play to the left of the scrum but Jansen breaks right.
Japan are obviously worried about his carry threat, so Jansen drops a late pass off to inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
Jansen completes the job by fighting to stay up on his feet despite contact from Japan openside Kanji Shimokawa, allowing him to be first to the breakdown over McCloskey’s carry.
And in the instance below, we get a flash of Jansen’s eye for an offload.
Jansen times his run off Bundee Aki perfectly, accelerating onto the ball and in behind the Japanese defence.
Japan blindside Ben Gunter snaffles him to prevent the big clean break, but Jansen has his hands free and leaves up an offload for Aki to continue the Irish momentum.
This proves to be the final act of Jansen’s impressive Ireland debut as Farrell calls him ashore.
Recognising some of his friends and family in the stand, Jansen has a brief smile.
He knows he has nailed his debut and put his hand up for involvement against the All Blacks.
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Collision-winning Jansen puts his hand up for All Blacks clash
THE MAIN REASON that the Ireland coaches have been keen to get a look at Sean Jansen in Test rugby is that he wins lots of collisions.
This is a key part of rugby. Dominate the gainline, dominate the game.
Curiously, there was a time when Jansen wasn’t deemed big enough to really make the grade in his native New Zealand. But having joined Connacht in 2023, the 6ft 3ins, 117kg number eight has been a weapon in contact.
This season, Jansen has been large and in charge.
Opta data shows that Jansen averaged more carries per 80 minutes than any other number eight in the URC this season, at 16.3, as well as committing two or more tacklers into his carries more frequently than any other player in his position, at 73%.
He ranked second for dominant tackles per game and was in the top three for effectiveness in attacking rucks. In short, he moved opposition bodies on a consistent basis.
Jansen carried this form into his performance for Ireland against Japan on Saturday, with his big impact meaning he has put his hand up for involvement against the All Blacks in Auckland.
It would be special for the man from Green Island RFC to get his second cap for Ireland on New Zealand soil.
Jansen’s first tackle of the game against Japan said it all about his physicality.
The Connacht man starts to the left of Craig Casey’s box kick.
Jansen’s role is to be part of the secondary chase line, following up behind primary kick chaser Jimmy O’Brien.
If O’Brien can’t get into an aerial contest or gets beaten first-up, Jansen’s job is to follow up with impact.
He does exactly that.
Ireland talk about ‘derailing’ ball-carriers’ lines of running, and that’s exactly what Jansen does here.
He levels Japan fullback Takuro Matsunaga with a dominant tackle, smashing through his torso.
The late dip from Jansen is key, getting him into a position from which he can explode into the tackle, driving his right shoulder through Matsunaga.
The Matsunaga train is well and truly derailed.
This first tackle from Jansen set a fine standard for his defensive work against the Japanese.
There weren’t any more spectacular efforts like the one above, but Jansen made 12 tackles for Ireland without missing any.
His accuracy in the tackle would have impressed Andy Farrell and co. In the instance below, Jansen reacts well to a blocked Ciarán Frawley kick to rock Japan centre Yuya Hirose.
Jansen reacts well to the turnover of possession to land his right shoulder into Hirose, combining with Robbie Henshaw, and causing the injury that forced the Japanese midfielder off a few minutes later.
Even more impressively, Jansen bounces straight back to his feet to contest.
It’s an impressive second effort from Jansen as he shows a clear release and gets his hands onto the ball for Ireland.
He appears to win the turnover, but the ball somehow ends up back on the Japanese side.
It’s unfortunate for Jansen after another big defensive impact.
While Jansen’s ball-carrying prowess naturally grabs more attention, his tackling is a key strength too.
Some players can make a major impact with ball in hand but lack a similar impetus when defending.
Jansen’s performance against Japan underlined that he brings heat in the tackle too.
In the example above, Jansen picks up Japan tighthead Shuhei Takeuchi late as he runs a ‘down’ line close to the ruck, but the Irish number eight still generates power into the collision to stop him dead on the gainline.
So Jansen’s defensive work was excellent, but he undoubtedly made the biggest impression for Ireland in attack as he made a team-leading 12 carries.
Again, he started well in this regard and beat five defenders overall, more than anyone else in the game despite only playing 61 minutes.
Opta data shows that Jansen’s 23 metres in-contact were also top of the charts, while he had a 95% gainline success, second only to Rónan Kelleher.
Jansen’s first carry was potent and he barely let up from there, proving important in helping Ireland to set up for kicks.
One of the things Jansen is good at is picking out relatively weak defenders in the line, such as Japan scrum-half Naoto Saito.
As the Japanese linespeed comes on from his right-hand side, Jansen uses his footwork to shift back inside and accelerate at the 75kg Japan scrum-half.
Saito never has a hope of making an impact in the tackle on Jansen.
Jansen’s carry gives Ireland a clean platform to kick from.
Casey’s subsequent box kick allows Ireland to win a penalty for a Japanese escort.
There’s something similar from Jansen below early in the second half.
Japan use their wings as tailgunners at lineouts, so Jansen picks out the 78kg Kazuma Ueda as Ireland set up for a kick.
He dominates the collision, breaking Ueda’s tackle attempt, and leaves Ireland well positioned for their kick.
Of course, Jansen’s power in contact is key in attack too. He had two important carries in the build-up to Ireland’s second try, finished by Tom O’Toole.
First, he breaks the tackle attempt of Japan loosehead prop Takato Okabe to give Ireland momentum early on in their 20-phase passage of attack.
This is a typical Jansen carry as he uses his sharp acceleration to speed up into contact, something that some players struggle with.
Whereas some players can lose speed as they brace for contact, Jansen has a good habit of speeding up into the collision.
Jansen is also good at dipping late into the contact, helping him to win collisions even when tacklers go low.
It takes good balance from Jansen to be able to do this at speed.
A few phases later, Jansen has another big gainline win for Ireland, once again helped by identifying a mismatch.
This time, Jansen can see 90kg Japan left wing Taira Main in front of him and he accelerates into the tackle with brute force.
As with the carry before, Jansen tucks the ball into his right arm and braces his left arm to act almost like the bull bar of a jeep, giving him an edge into the contact.
While base power is key in winning collisions, tools like Jansen’s footwork, use of his arms to fend, and identification of defenders are also important.
He shows another flash of that footwork above when Nick Timoney frees him behind the Japanese defence in the first half, only for Tiennan Costley to haul him down metres short of the line.
He was denied that time, but Jansen took his second-half try against Japan well, continuing his excellent try-scoring form for Connacht in an Ireland jersey.
Jansen scored 12 tries in 20 Connacht games this season, most from close range. And now he has one try in one Test for Ireland.
Jack Conan scoops the ball up from the base of the ruck – luring in Japan openside Kanji Shimokawa – but then passes for Jansen to power onto it, and Jansen’s uncanny ability to find slivers of space is apparent again as he drives through the weak inside shoulder of Japan lock Harry Hockings.
These final metres can be fiendishly difficult to make up, so Jansen’s poaching ability is particularly useful.
The best ball-carriers have handling skills too. Although he often takes route one, Jansen has a more subtle side to his game.
In the example above, Ireland dummy a play to the left of the scrum but Jansen breaks right.
Japan are obviously worried about his carry threat, so Jansen drops a late pass off to inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
Jansen completes the job by fighting to stay up on his feet despite contact from Japan openside Kanji Shimokawa, allowing him to be first to the breakdown over McCloskey’s carry.
And in the instance below, we get a flash of Jansen’s eye for an offload.
Jansen times his run off Bundee Aki perfectly, accelerating onto the ball and in behind the Japanese defence.
Japan blindside Ben Gunter snaffles him to prevent the big clean break, but Jansen has his hands free and leaves up an offload for Aki to continue the Irish momentum.
This proves to be the final act of Jansen’s impressive Ireland debut as Farrell calls him ashore.
Recognising some of his friends and family in the stand, Jansen has a brief smile.
He knows he has nailed his debut and put his hand up for involvement against the All Blacks.
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Analysis Collisions Dominant Ireland Japan sean jansen