‘‘He’s tough, he’s direct but he’s a great coach – one of the best I’ve come across. He doesn’t beat around the bush.’’
CAPTAIN MICHAEL LEITCH ON HIS COACH JAMIE JOSEPH
‘‘He’s a hard man. He’s tough, he’s direct but he’s a great coach – one of the best I’ve come across. He doesn’t beat around the bush. If you’re not playing well, he’ll tell you directly. He’s done a fantastic job with this team and we really play for him.’’
Michael Leitch
When Jamie Joseph and his Brave Blossoms walk through hotel lobbies, spontaneous applause is known to break out. Traversing busy train stations awash with commuters, thoroughfares part like they’re a royal entourage. More than once during this groundbreaking World Cup in Japan the self-styled simple Ma¯ ori boy from Blenheim has had cause to reflect on the special journey that rugby continues to send him on.
Not that Joseph has had a lot of time to ruminate. He’s been too busy guiding Japan on their coming of age as a rugby nation; hard at work achieving history with a group of men carving uncharted territory and, in the process, setting alight the first World Cup to be held on their continent.
They continue that journey tonight (11.15pm kickoff NZ time) in Tokyo when they meet South Africa in a quarterfinal carrying a special storyline. This time Cinderella made the ball, and it is a Joseph-inspired fairytale of quite special dimensions.
While a typhoon briefly threatened to suck the life out of this tournament, the Brave Blossoms have been a breath of fresh air throughout. They are the feelgood story of the tournament and a wonderful lesson in what can be achieved when you come together, understand and embrace your identity and then ride the wave of support from your adoring home fans.
Japan is no true rugby nation, like
New Zealand, or Wales. Here baseball rules the roost. Sumo has a big following. Football too. But the way this side has been capturing the hearts and minds of their country over the last month, that might all be changing. More than half of this nation’s 126 million people tuned in at some stage to their quarterfinal clincher against
Scotland. They are appointment viewing.
Rugby is flying here and Joseph is its pilot, the home media feverishly translating his pearls of wisdom (he can speak Japanese but does not do so at press conferences) for despatch nationwide. While fellow Kiwi and skipper Michael Leitch is very much the face of this team, Joseph is the acknowledged mastermind. Leitch is revered for his ferocity and fearlessness on the pitch; Joseph for his organisational and motivational abilities off it.
The 49-year-old Otago legend might just be the perfect coach, installed at just the right time, for Japan rugby. Old school, hard-nosed and a notorious control freak, the former All Blacks loose forward and Highlanders supremo was tailor-made for a country that cherishes discipline, hard work and hierarchy and loves its bosses to rule with a mixture of fear and fastidiousness.
He was an inspired choice to head Japan’s coming of age as a rugby force. Eddie Jones, of course, lit the fuse by cajoling the ‘‘Brighton Miracle’’ at the last World Cup in England. That 34-32 upset over South Africa – the most significant in tournament history – was a giant step, but the reality is that team failed to make it out of its pool.
Joseph has already achieved what Jones could not, guiding Japan to an unbeaten run through group play, including victories over Ireland and Scotland, and into the top eight in the world. Their fitness, skill level, competitiveness at set piece, defensive aggression and pace-and-space game has been a delight to watch.
Both Leitch and midfielder Ryoto Nakamura identify mentality as the key change overseen by Joseph. It has been a process, but he has instilled a belief that was the missing ingredient with this side.
‘‘He’s a hard man,’’ says Leitch, who shifted here from Christchurch when he was 15. ‘‘He’s tough, he’s direct but he’s a great coach – one of the best I’ve come across. He doesn’t beat around the bush. If you’re not playing well, he’ll tell you directly. He’s done a fantastic job with this team and we really play for him.’’
Adds Namamura: ‘‘Our mentality has changed since Jamie became head coach. The coaches and leaders are pulling us together. It is really helping us.’’
Veteran Kiwi lock Luke Thompson: ‘‘We have been to some dark places in preparation – pretty tough camps – and that is modern rugby. You don’t do this stuff by accident. You have to earn it.’’
Joseph knows mindsets only change with work. So he gathered them in, got them fit and slowly but surely built their belief – in themselves and each other. They have been together for over 200 days this year.
‘‘My definition of mentality is what’s natural, what we do every day, whether we’re playing rugby or just approaching life as a good guy,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s the way we think and are. We had to change that so they could get the best out of their rugby.
‘‘Our players now understand if you’re going be a good rugby player, it lives with you. And they exercise that every day. All I’m doing is reminding them and it’s Michael’s job to ensure that mentality is right.’’
But Joseph does more than just scare his men into playing well. He understood the value of Super Rugby as a vehicle to help his players bridge the gap between the Top League and test rugby and pleaded for the Sunwolves’ inclusion. Deep down he’s fuming over the side’s demise.
‘‘We struggled in that tournament for lots of reasons but we got exposed to the level of rugby that we would face at the World Cup and it’s been a real winner for us,’’ he says. ‘‘Even when you’re losing every weekend, you’re still getting experience and understanding what being a pro is about.’’
His feel for the game is top drawer. He made his share of mistakes at the Highlanders early on; but when he left, that franchise was humming.
So when he senses Leitch isn’t quite on top of his game for RWC, he drops him to the bench and hands the captaincy to Pieter Labuschagne. It was an inspired call, lit the fuse under Leitch and has left Japan with two established leaders.
Plus he knows his knitting when it comes to forward play. Japan technical chief Yuichiro Fujii said Joseph had to take credit for the forwards’ development. ‘‘His attention to detail has really raised their skill level,’’ he said.
You can’t tell the Joseph story, either, without factoring in his right-hand man, Tony Brown. The former Otago and All Blacks No 10 keeps a low profile around the Brave Blossoms, but everyone understands the role his tactical genius plays.
It doesn’t do any harm either that he’s the perfect foil personality wise to the abrasive Joseph. Good cop, bad cop.
‘‘Tony is a fabulous rugby coach, and we complement each other,’’ Joseph says. ‘‘A lot of that is to do with giving players responsibility, giving them accountability and trusting them.’’
But even Joseph concedes it’s been a grind to effect this change. ‘‘The hardest thing was working within the parameters given to me. Once I sorted that out I knew which direction I could go. You’ve got to go through a bit of pain but eventually it comes through in belief.’’
Joseph is aware this is big global news. Rugby’s top tier finally has a new member. He has a chuckle before the Boks clash when asked if his men realise that. ‘‘Our Japanese players don’t read English and the international stuff I’m sure is going over their heads, which is all a bit funny.’’
He calls it all ‘‘noise’’ and refers to those hotel lobbies and train stations when it strikes him how big they have become in their own country. ‘‘It’s a little different for me from a small town in New Zealand. Early in the week we limit that noise as much as possible and then we embrace it at the end of the week because it’s hugely motivational.’’
Right now the noise around this special team is growing. When they run out at Tokyo Stadium tonight it will reach a crescendo.