Japan’s veterans prepare to scale World Cup ‘Everest’ again
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Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has reportedly showed his squad a picture of Mount Everest since their loss to Italy.
PHOTO: AFP
TOULOUSE – Japan coach Jamie Joseph said that his team were preparing to “scale Everest” at the Rugby World Cup after a poor lead-up to the Sept 8-Oct 28 tournament.
The Brave Blossoms are ranked 14th in the world, below three of the other four teams in Pool D, and lost three of their four warm-up games, finishing with a 42-21 beating by Italy.
New Zealand-born Joseph, who represented Japan, has reportedly showed his squad a picture of Mount Everest since.
“I want the players to understand that the challenge is going to be big. With the arrival in France, we’re just getting into the dead zone. The World Cup is a dead zone in the sense that if you lose a test match, you know it will be hard,” he explained last Saturday in Toulouse, where they will kick off against Chile on Sunday.
Yet Japan have thrived in that dead zone in the last two World Cups, winning seven of their last eight group matches.
In 2015, the Japanese won three out of four group games, but finished third behind South Africa and Scotland.
As hosts in 2019, they scaled their Everest in style, winning all four group games, including against a dazzling Scotland side, before going down to eventual champions South Africa in the quarter-finals.
The combination of panache and teamwork that outclassed the Scots and captured the hearts of the nation has been absent of late, however.
Japan conceded 35 points against a rampant Fiji at the Pacific Nations Cup in August, and competed but failed to convince in losses against weaker opposition in Samoa and Italy.
They will probably need to avenge the loss to Samoa and beat Argentina or struggling former champions England, who have lost five of their last six games, to be in with a chance of reaching the knockout stages at this World Cup.
Joseph has picked 14 players aged 30 or older, while four players in the squad are 29. Back-row forward Mike Leitch, the 53-year-old Japan coach pointed out, will be playing in his fourth World Cup.
“The teams who have done well in the past, it’s the teams that have a lot of experience,” he said of his team selection.
“When it comes to the crunch, dealing with pressure, the guys who can play under those circumstances tend to be the most experienced guys and that’s the ones we have selected.”
Japan’s second match is against England, finalists four years ago but seemingly in free fall. Next comes Samoa and finally Argentina, who habitually thrive under World Cup pressure.
As the Japanese settle at their base in Toulouse, they are, like all squads, worrying about their diets while fielding questions on French cuisine.
Joseph was tactful, saying: “French food is good, the wine is probably better and just in case, we brought our Japanese chef.”
AFP, REUTERS
