Jones says Japan beaten by better team

GLOUCESTER, England (Sept. 23) – Japan coach Eddie Jones said his team were beaten by a better side Wednesday as they fell to their first defeat at Rugby World Cup 2015.

“At halftime we had a realistic chance of winning the game,” he said following the 45-10 loss to Scotland at Kingsholm. “They got in our 22 and took opportunities and we gave them a number of opportunities to score from. They scored at least two tries from our mistakes, intercepted passes and things. When we got into their 22 we weren’t clinical enough, so that was the difference. They tackled well and slowed our ball down, which made it hard for us to get momentum.”

Jones refused to use the four-day turnaround following the win over South Africa on the opening weekend as an excuse for the loss.

“I said we wouldn’t use that excuse and we are not.  Scotland were too good for us in the second half.”

However, he did say the loss of Amanaki Lelei Mafi shortly after halftime had hurt his team’s chances.

 
“Mafi was a big loss, he was a big loss to us. He had been denting the Scotland line, but we had to get over losing him, and we didn’t.”

Fullback Ayumu Goromaru said he was disappointed with the loss and that the team needed to make some changes for the next two games.

“We ended with a tough result. If we came into our own, there wouldn’t have been such a big gap,” he said. “We don’t have time to bow our heads because we still have two games to go. The four-day turnaround was tough. We need to make adjustments (for the next match).”

And Jones remained hopeful the team could still make the quarterfinals.

“Samoa in 10 days is key. If we knock them off we will have a fantastic chance. Hopefully South Africa versus Samoa is like a UFC fight, and they rough each other up. What comes around goes around.”