Jones praises players after RWC exit
GLOUCESTER, England (Oct. 11) – Japan coach Eddie Jones was adamant the post match press conference following Sunday’s 28-18 win over the United States at the Rugby World Cup should be about the team and not him, even though it was his last game in charge of the Brave Blossoms.
“I want everything today to be about the team, not about my last game. The players deserve all the credit, they were absolutely fantastic today. We were probably 15-20 per cent off our best today, but we kept battling and the USA kept coming at us.”
“We kept plugging away and to win a game like that when you’re not at your best shows how we have grown up. Full credit to Leitchy (captain Michael Leitch) and the boys.”
Leitch for his part said the win was down to the tremendous mental effort put in by his team.
“Throughout this week we didn’t know whether we would go to the quarterfinals or not, but we prepared the same. On Saturday, we had a team meeting to motivate ourselves. We wanted to show our pride and show the world what we were made of in this last game.”
Jones said the three wins the team had achieved were a result of the hard work they had put in.
“Let’s be honest, before this tournament Japan were one of the joke teams. Teams would put out their B team against them and win by 80-90 points. To come here and win three out of four games is a super effort from the team. It shows how hard they have worked to achieve this.”
For the players getting knocked out despite winning three games – the first time that has happened in Rugby World Cup history – was a bittersweet occasion.
“It’s complicated. Our goal was to get to the quarterfinals so I don’t think there’s a single player on the team who’s happy with the outcome,” said man-of-the-match Ayumu Goromaru.
“It’s been a really tough four years. It’s just been one challenge after another,” said Fumiaki Tanaka. “The way things have turned out is obviously disappointing but we now have a goal of reaching the quarters at the next one.”
“After the Scotland win (over Samoa) I really had a hard time accepting the situation but I told myself how important a third win would be for us and we managed to get on with it.”