Joseph Said His Team Were “Out Passioned”

INCHEON, South Korea (April 23) – Japan coach Jamie Joseph said his team had never looked like losing to South Korea in their 2017 Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday, but that didn’t mean he was a happy man.

“I don’t think we were ever in danger of losing the match but as a coach you don’t like your side to be out-passioned,” he said following the 47-29 victory at Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field.

“Hats off to South Korea, they played with a lot more spirit than we did,” the former New Zealand and Japan international added.

Japan had a number of new caps on display and Joseph said he was upset that the players had played so lethargically.

“We had 11 new caps and I wanted them to leave everything on the field. I thought there would be more passion. And some of the more experienced players didn’t want to do the hard work early on.”

The coach also said that his side’s options with ball in hand were not the issue.

“You are always going to make mistakes in attack when you play together for the first time and that doesn’t bother me,” he said. “But defensively we missed a lot of one-on-one tackles and we weren’t desperate at times to get back.”

Joseph said his side had plenty to work on in the next seven days.

“We have got to make our tackles as that would have denied them many of their opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the man who replaced Joseph as the Sanix No. 8 back in 2002, was much happier with the way things panned.

“We’re pretty happy,” said South Korea assistant coach Deon Muir. ““We have a bit more experience and have understood what it is to stay in the moment. The forwards also gave us a platform from which we could build, though a few penalties eventually cost us.”