Jones looking at big picture after win over S. Korea

INCHEON, South Korea (April 19) – Japan coach Eddie Jones admitted his side hadn’t played well in their 56-30 defeat of South Korea in the opening game of the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship, but said in the context of the bigger picture he was fairly happy.

“To be honest the only thing I was really disappointed in was the attitude,” he said after the game at Namdong Asiad Rugby Ground.

“If we had prepared simply to play Korea – and not to be disrespectful – we would have won by 80 points and not learnt anything. In terms of the Asia Rugby Championship we were rubbish, but as far as our World Cup preparations are concerned that was the best game we could have had. Our focus is the Rugby World Cup.”

The Brave Blossoms coach admitted his side had made a lot of mistakes but he was also quick to praise the Koreans for their attitude, especially in defence.

“We were a bit rusty both individually and as a team, and sloppy for most parts of the game,” he said shortly after the final whistle. “Korea played well for the first 30 minutes and we gave them some points which got their spirits up. They were physical and tackled well.”

Japan were guilty of a number of poor passes and handling errors and Jones put them down to individual errors.

“The problem was the players weren’t looking at the defence.”

Jones said Karne Hesketh, Ryohei Yamanaka played well and that debutant Chihito Matsui had shown good pace when scoring.

“We also gave another two players (Kazuhiko Usami and Tsuyoshi Murata) a taste of international rugby and how they now develop is up them.”

Japan have a bye next week before they take on Hong Kong in Tokyo on May 2 and Jones will be hoping his predictions will have a slightly different outcome.

“Before the game I thought we would either play really well for 20 minutes or not play well,” he said. “And unfortunately it was the second.”