Eddie Jones sticking with failed Wallabies concept as Japan face All Blacks who are ‘always the benchmark’
Japan head coach Eddie Jones.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones’ challenge of rebuilding the game in the Asian nation faces its toughest test of the year when they take on international heavyweights New Zealand in Yokohama on Saturday.
Jones started his second spell with the Brave Blossoms after guiding the Wallabies during a disastrous 2023 international campaign.
During his stint with the Wallabies, he backed young players to spearhead their 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign but that plan backfired spectacularly as the two-time world champions failed to advance to the play-offs for the first time in the history of the global showpiece.
Introduced youthful concept to Japan
Despite that failure, Jones also introduced his youthful concept when he took charge of Japan at the start of the year as he brought in several players from Japan’s university system to the Brave Blossoms set-up.
That meant Japan no longer relied exclusively on the country’s club system – although there are still several club players in the national team – and there were concerns initially as Jones’ youthful side struggled during the mid-year Tests as they lost all three of their matches in that international window, against England, Georgia and Italy.
Despite those setbacks, Jones continued to back his younger players and the Brave Blossoms showed improvement in the Pacific Nations Cup where they secured victories over Canada, the United States and Samoa before suffering a 41-17 defeat to Fiji in that competition’s final in September.
The Brave Blossoms face a daunting task against the All Blacks, who they haven’t beaten in five previous meetings, but Jones remains defiant and is committed to his youthful policy.
“We want to keep introducing new blood into Japanese rugby,” he told AAP. “Between 2020 and 2023, Japan had 33 new Test caps over four years. In 2024, we’ve had 17 already.
‘Bringing new blood in’
“We’re bringing new blood in and creating a new generation of players to increase the depth and quality of our squad.”
Although they were defeated by Fiji in their previous match, the 64-year-old is happy with the progress made by the Brave Blossoms.
“We played some very good rugby in the lead-up to the final, particularly in terms of our continuity in attack,” added Jones.
“We need to bring this against New Zealand.
“We want to attack them with our speed and with relentless defence. We will have to be 100 per cent on the job for the whole time. When you play New Zealand, they’re always the benchmark.”
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