Coach Eddie Jones tells his Japanese rugby players to beef up after bruising tour

Coach Eddie Jones on Monday warned his Japan players they had to bulk up and train harder if they wanted to compete on rugby’s world stage after another bruising European tour.

Jones’ side were thrashed by South Africa and Ireland before losing narrowly to Wales and eking out a last-gasp win over Georgia.

The tour completed Jones’ second year back in charge of Japan and followed heavy defeats to England, New Zealand and France in 2024.

The feisty Australian said he wanted to see candidates for the national team working harder when the domestic Japan Rugby League One season kicked off next month.

“We had a young guy coming in [to the squad] and in five months he’s put on five kilograms of muscle mass, but he shouldn’t need us to encourage him to do that,” Jones said after returning with the team to Tokyo.

Japan’s Kippei Ishida (middle left) and Wales’ Josh Adams compete for a high ball. Photo: AFP

“We need players in League One to understand that, firstly, you need a body to play Test match rugby, and to do that you’ve got to train appreciably harder than they’ve been training.”