Japan head coach Eddie Jones is under no illusions about the challenge awaiting his side when they take on South Africa at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
The Brave Blossoms fell just short in a narrow 15-19 loss to the Wallabies last week in Japan.
Australia led 14-3 at halftime, but a spirited Japanese fightback saw the hosts close the gap to four points with 20 minutes remaining, setting up a tense finish.
That clash marked the first meeting between the Wallabies and their former coach, with Jones returning to Japan soon after Australia’s 2023 World Cup campaign.
Now, his side is preparing to face the reigning world champions – a team Jones knows all too well.
During his previous stint as Japan coach, he masterminded one of rugby’s greatest upsets: the Brave Blossoms’ famous 2015 World Cup victory over South Africa in Brighton.
Jones stated there are no secrets when it comes to facing the Springboks.
“I don’t think there’s any secret when you’re playing against South Africa and they don’t make it a
secret mate,” Jones told the Rugby Unity Podcast.
“They get 30 metres from your line, two forwards come around the same way and it’s coming. You just got to be good enough to stop it and you’ve got to be able to neutralise the high ball and if you can stop those two parts of the game, we’ll give yourself a chance to win the game.
“And then when you get possession you got to be accurate, you’ve got to be sharp. And because they give you opportunities to attack, they play a half pitch defence where the winger can come in from the 15 metres to close at the near post.
“So you either got to try to play through that, which is one way or we’ve got to play over it or you can like New Zealand traditionally do try to play around it, which is fraught with high risk and little return.
“So yeah, we’ve tried to find a way to break that down and we’ll give it a run. “
Source: Rugby Unity
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