Eddie Jones addresses the ‘direction’ of Japan after a winless start to his tenure
Japan head coach Eddie Jones.
Despite still waiting for his first Test victory in his second stint as Japan head coach Eddie Jones said he is “really optimistic” that his young team will turn the corner soon.
The Brave Blossoms’ mid-year Test programme saw them suffering huge defeats against Jones’ former side England and Italy, and they also lost narrowly against Georgia.
Poor home form
All those matches were played in Japan and they also played two matches on home soil against the Maori All Blacks, and drew that series 1-1.
Although his team did not deliver the goods, especially in their Test matches, Jones believes his players will eventually come good.
“A tough start. It’s always tough to start with losses. But I am really optimistic about the direction of the team,” he told reporters.
“I know everyone is disappointed. I’m disappointed with the results but I’m not disappointed with the direction of the team.”
On Sunday, Japan were on the wrong end of a 42-14 defeat against Italy in Sapporo with the visitors dominating for long periods and they eventually outscored their hosts by five tries to two.
More misery for Eddie Jones as Japan suffer humiliating home defeat to Italy
“Congratulations to Italy on a really strong performance,” Jones said on Stan Sport after that match.
“There was times where we had opportunities to put some real pressure on them but we just weren’t quite good enough. Italy are a strong defensive team.
“Our support play was a little bit slow in the second half and we couldn’t finish the opportunities that we created. Congratulations to Italy.”
In their previous Tests, the Brave Blossoms lost 52-17 to England in Tokyo before Georgia beat them 25-23 in Sendai.
Rung the changes
Jones took over Japan’s coaching reins from Jamie Joseph after last year’s Rugby World Cup in France and has brought in several new players to his squad.
“We knew that post the World Cup (Japan) had an old team, and we knew we had to change the team,” Jones said.
“Changing the team means you bring in younger players and they just need time, they need guidance and they need patience,” he added.
