'No secret': The super obvious game plan South Africa will use against Japan

Japan head coach Eddie Jones says his side will “give it a red-hot go” against South Africa at Wembley this weekend, outlining how the Brave Blossoms plan to combat the Springboks’ trademark physicality.

After a narrow loss to the Wallabies in Tokyo, Japan face the Springboks at Wembley this Saturday before continuing their November tour against England and Italy.

Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast, Jones gave an unvarnished view of what Japan must do to stay in the contest against the reigning world champions.

Despite talk of Springbok innovation, Jones is very much expecting the tried and tested from Rassie Erasmus in London.

“I don’t think there’s any secret when you’re playing against South Africa — and they don’t make it a secret,” Jones said. “They get 30 metres from your line, two forwards come around the same way and it’s coming. You’ve just got to be good enough to stop it, and you’ve got to be able to neutralise the high ball. If you can stop those two parts of the game, you give yourself a chance to win.”

He also touched on Japan’s tactical options in attack, noting that New Zealand’s traditional method of “playing around” the Bok defence is risky, but not the only way to find space.

“They play a half-pitch defence where the winger can come in from the 15 metres to close at the near post,” he explained. “So you either try to play through that, which is one way, or you play over it, or you can, like New Zealand traditionally do, try to play around it — which is high risk and little return.”

Jones’s comments came after Japan’s heartbreakingly narrow 19–15 defeat to Australia, a performance he said showed the team’s growing defensive maturity.

“We were one play away from winning,” he said. “We need to play more against top teams to learn and control the game tempo better.”

The Brave Blossoms made around 200 tackles against the Wallabies, a figure Jones said reflected the team’s growing resilience under his second stint in charge.

“Yeah, I think we made 200 tackles in the game… for a Japanese side, which is normally an attacking side, to make 200 tackles… and I think we had 97 per cent success… they’re a bit sore.”

Japan were roared on by a crowd of over 41,000 at the Japan National Stadium, the largest attendance since the 2019 World Cup. Despite the rain, the reception at full time was loud and warm — something Jones believes demonstrates the team’s growing connection with the public.

“The players are discovering their identity and the way they want to follow their team,” he said. “They’ve got a young group, they get on well, and they’re starting to gel.”

The Brave Blossoms fly to London with several injury concerns, including hooker Mamoru Harada, but Jones said the focus now is on attitude rather than fatigue or travel logistics.

“We’ve done all the science about sleeping,” he said. “We’ve tried to manage as much as possible, but the big thing is attitude — wanting to get out there and play.”