Jones – England must feel at home in Japan

Editor

England head coach Eddie Jones wants his players to be as “close to normal life” as possible when they head to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

This comment was made after he and his England staff went on a reconnaissance mission to the next Rugby World Cup’s host nation.

The current Six Nations champions, besides the All Blacks, will be one of the teams expected to push for the Cup. This is a feat they have yet to repeat after their 2003 triumph against a then Jones-coached Wallaby side in Sydney.

Former Japan coach Jones hopes to familiarise his colleagues with Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Miyazaki and Kobe. He will also scout out potential training bases and hotels.

“There are two years to go so we are getting to the very serious part of the build up to the Rugby World Cup,” Jones said in a Rugby Football Union statement.

“I wanted to bring some of my staff over here from each department to start to familiarise themselves with Japan and understand the possible climatic conditions as well as get a feel of what it is going to be like to play in the World Cup here.”

England will lock horns with Argentina, France, the United States and Tonga in their Pool. Jones believes adjusting to the local climate and culture will be critical to England’s chances of glory.

“People don’t have the impression of Japan being a hot country,” Jones said. “It’s not seen as a hot and humid country for foreigners. The English in particular describe Japan as the ‘Far East,’ which is a lovely quaint old term.

“In Japan it’s important to establish relationships in person,” he explained. “Everything needs to be done face to face so it’s an opportunity for our staff to build key relationships with Japanese rugby.”

England will touch down in Japan for the World Cup in early September 2019. Jones also added that he did not want his squad to be based in isolated venues.

“We want to be in locations that are close to normal life, so we want our players to train hard and walk on the street and go for a coffee,” he said.

“We’ve got a pretty good idea of when we’ll arrive and we’re just finalizing our pre-World Cup camps and where they will be. We’ll look to come here around Sept. 3-6 and there is a possibility of playing a warm-up game shortly after that. We are looking to play similar teams to the ones we face in the pool stages.”