Joseph Looking for Much Improved Defensive Performance

TOKYO (April 29) – Japan coach Jamie Joseph said Friday he and his team had addressed the defensive shortcomings that marred last week’s win over South Korea and that they “wanted to do well in front or our own fans.”

The Brave Blossoms take on the same opponents at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground a week after beating them 47-29 in Incheon in the opening round of the Asia Rugby Championship.

“Last week was a test match which Japan won but we didn’t perform well,” Joseph said Friday after his team had trained at the match venue.

Joseph responded to the performance by making eight changes (six in the pack and two in the backs) to his starting XV – “the majority of which were through performance.”

“Some get another chance, some don’t but that’s the way it is,” he said.

The former New Zealand and Japan international said he was reasonably pleased with the attack but that the team needed to raise the level of their performance in defence.

“The mistakes we made in attack were from trying to do things such as offloads and 50-50 tackles – the type of things that need skill and confidence and the things we need to do to beat the best teams in the world.”

When asked what his goal for Saturday’s game was, he simply replied “No missed tackles.”

Yutaka Nagare, who once again leads the team from scrumhalf, said defence had been a priority for the side during a tough week of training.

“The team worked really hard on their one-on-one tackling in training this week,” he said.

Japan will remain in Tokyo after the game as they prepare for the visit of Hong Kong on May 6.