Eddie Jones makes ‘better than 2015’ claim as Springboks lie in wait at Wembley
Japan head coach Eddie Jones looks ahead to Springboks clash.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones has made his intentions clear that they are eyeing another shock win over the Springboks when the pair meet at Wembley next week.
Speaking after the Brave Blossoms lost out 19-15 to Australia in Tokyo on Saturday, Jones was full of confidence as his team turn their focus to the world champions.
The loss saw Japan recover from 14-3 down at the break and get within four points of the Wallabies, who were hanging on in the second half after the hosts’ fightback.
Springboks up next
Shuhei Takeuchi and Ben Gunter scored the Brave Blossoms’ tries while Nick Champion De Crespigny, Josh Flook and Carlo Tizzano got the Wallabies’ three crossings.
Japan will now face the Springboks in London and boss Jones saw enough on Saturday to back his side to go toe-to-toe with the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners.
“I think this team is a better team than the 2015 team, I think they’ve got the potential to be better,” Jones told AAP, referencing the ‘Miracle of Brighton’ World Cup win.
“We’re going there thinking we can win. South Africa are like everyone, get in their face, put pressure on them and they can make mistakes. That’s what we intend to do.”
He continued that a Test victory at the home of English football would be “iconic” as Japan look to not let the unique fixture against Rassie Erasmus’ outfit pass them by.
“Wembley’s a good stadium to do it at,” he stressed. “Imagine beating South Africa at Wembley. That would be iconic.”
The Brave Blossoms will obviously have to avoid another sluggish opening half and instead replicate how they fared against Australia in the second this coming weekend.
Jones believes his players “like spectators” in the early stages in Tokyo, but was buoyed by how his young side pulled themselves back into the contest in the narrow defeat.
Stuck in there
“We don’t go away, we stay in there, we kept going,” he said.
“I think for a young team, they can take a lot of positives from it. Really disappointed with the result but in terms of the performance and in terms of the fight, it’s a real step up for us again.”
He added: “We want to show the game that we played in the second half for the full 80 minutes against South Africa. That’s our challenge.”
READ MORE: Match details, stats and line-ups for Japan v Wallabies
