Jones praises players’ attitude

NAGOYA (May 10) – Japan head coach Eddie Jones said his team was exactly where he wanted them to be as they close in on a seventh straight Asian 5 Nations title and more importantly an eighth successive appearance at a Rugby World Cup.

 

Jones made the comments after the Brave Blossoms ran in 20 tries in a 132-10 win over Sri Lanka at Mizuho Rugby Ground.

 

“I am obviously pleased with the result as we have played two games and have maximum points. We are exactly where we want to be and all our thoughts now are on beating Korea next week,” Jones said.

 

When told that Japan had recorded their third highest score and third biggest winning margin in test match rugby, Jones said, “We aim to be the greatest ever Japan team so we should be breaking records.”

 

Jones admitted it was difficult to read too much into the game, given its one-sided nature, but he said he was pleased with the attitude of the players.

 

“It wasn’t easy because we knew we were going to win, no matter how well Sri Lanka did. So I was very pleased with the intent of the players.”

 

Captain Michael Leitch, who was one of two players to score a hat-trick of tries said the team had stuck to the game plan, and while there were a few things to work on ahead of next week’s game with South Korea, he was nevertheless very pleased.

 

“We wanted to play it tight for the first 30 minutes and we did that,” he said. “We then wanted to play it close to 10 and we did that, and we put a lot of pressure on them in the scrum and maul.”

 

Jones had special praise for two of the Japan players.

 

“Kin-chan showed he can definitely play at the next World Cup, though I am not sure about 2019,” he said of 36-year-old Hitoshi Ono, who became Japan’s second most capped player of all time.

 

And of Ayumu Goromaru, who kicked a Japan record 16 conversions (in addition to scoring a try) to put him 13 points away from overtaking Keiji Hirose as Japan’s all-time top points scorer, Jones said, “Hirose was a genuine world-class kicker so that puts Goromaru in good stead as a goal kicker in world rugby.”