Eddie Jones says Japan will have ‘red-hot go’ against England
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Japan coach Eddie Jones has said that he wants to "change Japanese rugby" in his second stint with the side.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – Eddie Jones has vowed that Japan will have “a red-hot go” against his former team England when the two sides meet in Tokyo in their international Test on June 22.
The Australian named four uncapped players, including a university student, in an inexperienced line-up for his first match in his second spell with the Brave Blossoms.
The feisty coach said he wants to “change Japanese rugby”, starting this weekend at the National Stadium in Tokyo, where temperatures are set to reach 30 deg C.
He will meet his former assistant Steve Borthwick, now England coach.
“Of course England have got experience, they’re three years into a cycle under Steve Borthwick, we’re 10 days into a cycle,” Jones said on June 20.
“So there’s a gap there but we’ve got no excuse, we’ve prepared really well and we’re going to give it a red-hot go.”
Loose forward Michael Leitch, who played under Jones during the 64-year-old’s first stint as Japan coach from 2012 to 2015, was named captain.
Jones retained only three starting players from the 39-27 loss to Argentina at the 2023 World Cup that confirmed their first-round exit.
The new faces include 20-year-old university fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki, who he said has a “fantastic future”.
“We brought him into camp and every time he’s trained he’s got better and better,” said Jones.
“Yes he’s young, he lives with 150 other students in a dormitory. He’s not a great student at the moment, but he’s a great student of rugby.”
Jones led England to the 2019 World Cup final, where they were beaten by South Africa.
He was fired as England boss at the end of 2022 and was replaced by Borthwick, who took the team to the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup.
England skipper Jamie George, who played under Jones, said the team were surprised by his line-up but were used to him making “bold statements”.
“Eddie wouldn’t have made that decision if he didn’t have every confidence that he was able to go out there and play the sort of game that he wanted to play,” he said.
“We probably had an idea of the line-up that he might pick, but it’s not exactly what we thought. That’s probably Eddie’s way at times.”
Borthwick sprang a surprise of his own by naming his team two days ahead of schedule on June 18. Notably, he picked Marcus Smith ahead of Fin Smith at fly-half.
He also handed a first Test start to loose forward Chandler Cunningham-South in a starting XV that contained four changes from England’s 33-31 loss to France in the Six Nations in March. AFP
