Wallabies: The Japanese tactic that led to Ryan Lonergan finding ‘a way to be able to pass consistently’ and his verdict on Cam Roigard’s ‘threat’
Wallabies No.9 Ryan Lonergan shows off his grip tape and, inset, All Blacks scrum-half Cam Roigard
Wallabies scrum-half Ryan Lonergan has shed light on his use of a Japanese finger tape to improve his pass and given his verdict on his likely clash with New Zealand’s Cam Roigard on Saturday.
The Brumbies half-back is poised to make his 13th Test appearance back at the same Eden Park ground where he made his debut off the bench in 2025.
Joe Schmidt didn’t much fancy the 28-year-old, but the now-departed coach did name him for a first start against Ireland in July and he has since made the No.9 jersey his own with Les Kiss now in charge.
He has also become the Wallaby place kicker and his contribution of 17 points from seven kicks (four conversions and three penalties) proved crucial last time out when the Springboks were ambushed 42-38 in Perth on September 27.
“He had this special (tape); they use it in tennis or something…”
Lonergan’s flourishing a year out from Australia hosting the next Rugby World Cup has also drawn attention to the unique way he applies grip tape on all his fingers, a trick he learned from Japanese player Kaito Shigeno when both were representing the Barbarians in the UK in 2023.
“I did the Barbarians in the World Cup year, and there was a Japanese half-back Kaito and he kept taping his fingers for training,” explained Lonergan at the Wallabies media briefing on Tuesday in Auckland.
“I asked him about it, and I’d already used a bit of tape on my fingers, but it never really worked that well. He had this special (tape); they use it in tennis or something. So he gave me a box and said, ‘Try it’. I tried it and it was really good, and I just used it ever since.
“Every time we go to Japan, I’ll load up on the tape, so it kind of just happened that way. It was a little way for me to be able to just put a bit of grip tape on them [the fingers] and then it just stays on and I don’t have to keep reapplying it.
“I found it’s a way for me to be able to pass consistently in the game. Gets real sweaty when these boys are sweating all over it or if it’s raining or something, so that’s the story behind it. It’s nothing too flashy really.”
Lonergan curiously admitted that he doesn’t use the grip tape at training, only in matches. “No, I don’t use it at training,” he added. “I try to keep getting a feel for the ball at training.
“I don’t know if it makes a difference or not, but I try to be able to pass with a slippery ball still without the tape on, and then it doesn’t make a huge difference when it comes to the game, putting the tape on in terms of feel, but it’s just a bit more grip.”
Whereas Lonergan had to bide his time before his international breakthrough, Roigard, his opposite number for New Zealand, has quickly forged a reputation as potentially the world’s best scrum-half with his 24 Test appearances by the age of 25.
This battle of the rival nines is now set to be of great focus at Eden Park in Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup opener. “He’s a great player,” Lonergan reckoned. “He’s been class for them.
“He’s a great attacking threat and he’s obviously got a great left foot there, so it’s going to be exciting. We’ve obviously faced each other a few times, not at test level though, so it’ll be good fun.
“He’s obviously a threat around the ruck and then set-piece time around the scrum. So, we know that. We’ve previewed that a little bit and we’ll do our best to shut him down.”
History is against the Wallabies in the two-match series. Not since 2003 have they held the Bledisloe Cup, and not since 1994 has anyone defeated the All Blacks at their Eden Park lair. Lonergan, though, likes the way the Wallabies have been building.
“We’ve made good sort of steps in the right direction over the course of this year in the Test season,” he enthused. “There’s been a lot of sort of game management discussions that we have spoken about. While our game is still driving off the same principle that we want to use the ball and attack, we have also got the opportunities to go to the contestable sort of kicking game as well.
“It’s not only on the nine; we have got our 10s and our game callers out the back as well to be able to see space and take that – and we encourage that. We have made some good steps in the right direction there over the last couple of games.”
It was against France in the second match of July’s Nations Championship when Lonergan took on the place-kicking duties a week after late Ben Donaldson misses denied them a victory over Ireland.
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Lonergan kicked three conversions in the loss to the French and has since gone on to contribute handsomely to the Wallabies’ six-match unbeaten streak, accumulating 58 points from 27 successful kicks (four penalties and 23 conversions) against Italy, Japan (two matches), Argentina (two matches) and South Africa.
It was at the Brumbies earlier this year that laid the foundation. “I don’t know if it was like a switch, but at the start of Super Rugby, I hadn’t kicked for a little while, and it was probably just getting back into the rhythm of kicking.
“And then towards the back end of Super, I started to enjoy it a bit more. When I was young, I really loved goal kicking all the time. And then over the last couple of years when I wasn’t kicking and I came back in, it was sort of another thing that I had to think about.
“I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I do now. So honestly, that’s kind of the only change and then you kind of just ride that confidence through. It’s been working for me.”