Youthful Japan backed to take Razor's All Blacks 'right to the wire'

He’s done it before, and while Eddie Jones stopped just short of saying he could do it again, Japan’s head coach is out to make All Blacks fans sweat once more when the two nations collide in Tokyo in just over a month’s time.

Since a seismic semi-final in the same city five years ago saw his England side reach the Rugby World Cup final at New Zealand’s expense, Jones has been on the move and found little success against the men in black.

Whilst still at England’s helm, Jones’ side claimed a dramatic draw before he was expelled and found a new home in Australia. under Jones, the Wallabies could only extend their losing streak against their trans-Tasman rivals.

The rugby gods have now given the coach another crack at his old foe, and after succumbing to a late blow-out to Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup final, Jones was quick to refocus on his next task.

“We’re going to have a little break and then the most important thing is to get ready to beat New Zealand. We’ve got to develop a game plan to beat New Zealand.

“New Zealand are going to be a physically superior side to us, so we have to find a way of playing with our speed and tactical smarts to beat New Zealand.

“It’s not about what’s happened in this game, it’s about what we do to beat New Zealand. I don’t think Japan’s ever got close to New Zealand in a game and we’re going to be the first side to make them go right to the wire. That’s the aim, so that’s the only thing I’m focussed on now. Everything that’s happened in the past is the past.”

Head-to-Head

Last 3 Meetings

Wins

0

Draws

0

Wins

3

Average Points scored

27

57

First try wins

33%

Home team wins

0%

At his disposal for this round of the rivalry is a slew of young Japanese talents with huge potential, although they are relatively early in their journey of discovering it.

The coach, not known for mincing his words, was typically blunt when discussing his selections for last week’s semi-final, saying his young cast are holding themselves back due to a lack of ambition.

While he expressed a more positive sentiment following the final, Jones acknowledged that his team are still growing and maturing.

“Pressure does funny things to you, it tends to drive you to old habits, and we went back to old habits; certain players did under pressure.

“We became a very orthodox team and when we’re an orthodox team we’re not a strong team. Our point of difference is playing differently; we’ve got to play fast, we’ve got to have adventure, we’ve got to have courage and sometimes pressure takes that away from you which again is a great lesson for the young players today.”

So, what can the All Blacks expect in Tokyo on October 26? Well, Jones laid out his vision for the team in simple terms.

“It’s interesting in rugby the most effective way to carry is with no passes or three passes. With no passes you’ve got to be a big, physical team like Fiji are, and you saw a lot of their attack today was no pass, where they just picked and go and made a lot of ground in the middle and it shortened up our defence one and they were able to pass the ball (wide).

“For us, we’ve got to be the best team in the world at three passes, because that puts the defence under the most pressure. But, when you drop the ball like we did today, you can’t keep pressure on. It must be contagious in Japan at the moment, dropping the ball.”