Eddie, you stunned the world once — now can Japan shock Scots today?
SIR CLIVE INTERVIEWS HIS OLD SPARRING PARTNER EDDIE JONES
He delivers all his pre-match team talks in Japanese
THE Cherry and Whites are always revered down at Kingsholm so I’m expecting a rapturous reception for the Cherry Blossoms today. A sort of homecoming. Hardcore rugby fans acknowledging diehard warriors.
Japan even wear the same colours as Gloucester and I’m told they bowed en masse to the Shed after their recently friendly with Georgia there. How can you resist that?
Like you, I have been absolutely fascinated and energised by Japan’s win over South Africa and for the first time in a long while I’m badly missing the thrill of coaching. Those are the days you live for, the days that make you forget all the hassle and sacrifice needed to get there.
Japan’s performance was like a bolt of electricity lighting up the game and this afternoon, just four days after the greatest moment in their rugby history, they must go to the well again against Scotland. Surely they can’t win again, can they?
After the South Africa match I texted my congratulations to Eddie Jones and suggested a hook-up at some stage in the next couple of weeks to chew the cud. Remarkably, he messaged back immediately to suggest I pop into their team hotel in Brockworth yesterday for a coffee. The second biggest game in Japan’s history loomed but he was as relaxed as ever with his expert lieutenants — headed up by former England captain Steve Borthwick — taking care of business while he paused briefly to take stock and clear his mind. It was great to hear that familiar Aussie twang I loved having verbal spats with — and his challenging opinions on the game.
So just how good was that win, Eddie, and what did it feel like afterwards?
‘Normally Japanese people don’t show huge emotion but when they do it comes out in floods of tears. So there I was smiling broadly, fists pumping the air, in the changing room after this incredible day, surrounded by a team of grown adults suddenly weeping buckets. OK, I did nearly shed a tear myself at one stage. Just to see their joy is what we all do it for.
‘I knew South Africa were a little off the pace, I knew we could stay in the game for 60 minutes but, no, I wasn’t expecting that outcome. Overnight that win has changed the status of rugby in Japan.’
Eddie has a Japanese mother and wife but the family grew up in Australia and he didn’t learn the language at the cradle. In fact they did everything to become model Australians, which included talking and writing exclusively in English.
He has taught himself Japanese over the years and delivers all his pre-match talks in Japanese — that must be some sight — although he will still use a translator in training when it gets technical. What is beyond doubt is that he understands the Japanese psyche.
‘ There are some very real, ingrained, cultural issues. The Japanese people are polite, industrious, obedient and disciplined.’
This politeness is also in Jones’s DNA. His first question to me was: ‘How are Jayne and the kids?’
He adds: ‘Japan rebuilt the country after the Second World War through a massive collective effort. The lads will do exactly what I ask in training and in a match, so much so that there might be acres of space open up unexpectedly and they will ignore it and go through the “process”.
‘I’ve encouraged independent thought and personal responsibility. I issued them all with iPads — the younger blokes live on them these days, so why fight it? — and told them to do their own homework and research. Don’t be coach-led, do it yourself.
‘In match week I will get the captain to write up all the names of the opposition starting XV on a whiteboard and ask him to jot a few comments and observations on the players he knows and has studied.
‘All the team will then go up in order and add their input and that way they build a complete, comprehensive dossier on our opponents. Japanese people look for orders and instruction but in rugby — sometimes — you need to initiate and make decisions and be your own boss.
‘Hand on heart, I would have kicked the penalty and taken the draw in Brighton but I couldn’t be more delighted that Michael Leitch went for broke. I’m hoping that strength of character from the leaders in our group will ensure the mindset is right against Scotland.
‘Physically we will be OK. We knew this double- header was coming, we are very fit, but mentally is where we must turn up against Scotland.’
I can relate to all that. One of the first things I did in 1997 as England coach was to arrange for every player to be given a laptop, which were still a novelty. I was ridiculed by the media and one or two of the ‘old-school’ players but those with real ambition, a thirst for knowledge and a need to take responsibility soon learnt their value.
I’d have thought the Japanese could be aggressive and fierce when required, especially on the rugby field. Eddie says the opposite is true and again that has been an issue.
‘ I’ve tried hard to create an environment in which being aggressive is OK. Almost all our training is rival against rival, every drill becomes a competition in which there must be a winner.
‘Japanese players don’t really want to embarrass their mate in the gym by lifting more or to leave them for dead in the sprints.
‘All the time I’m looking for an edge. For scrum training I have brought in Marc Dal Maso, the old France front-rower who is great and completely crazy. He gets them fired up at scrum practice.’
And where does the team’s phenomenal handling come from? Just three dropped passes in 82 minutes against South Africa.
‘Every week we have a full- on, 30-minute session in which we do everything between 40-60 per cent quicker than in a normal game. It’s like speeding the film up. If you can handle under that pressure then mentally it feels just a bit easier when you play at match speed.
‘We can only do that because our conditioner John Pryor has got the lads so fit. John was probably the first guy to introduce GPS technology into training back in 2004.
‘Fatigue is what sees skill levels drop. Brighton was a fast track and suited us. It might not be quite so easy at Kinsgholm, especially with a bit of rain about. But we won’t stop trying to play our game. We can’t go looking for too much
contact, we can’t get through tackles and offload like Sonny Bill Williams. For us it’s ruck-and-run rugby. It’s the new rock and roll, Clive.’
Love it. ruck and run rugby. The three rs. It’s not always going to work but combined with expert hooking in the scrum and an array of line-out ploys, it gives small teams a chance.
Eddie is moving on after this World Cup, joining the Stormers in South Africa, a country he helped to win the 2007 World Cup when he worked as an assistant with Jake White.
He says the offer and the opportunity are too good to ignore and I suspect the pressure of coaching a socalled ‘minnow’ can tell. He suffered a stroke two years ago. Happily he’s fully recovered but you have to pace yourself a little bit in this business.
A few months back the French union asked me in to talk about their vacant job. I know who I would have been on the phone to first had a job offer resulted. Eddie Jones. God, we would have had some fun trying to take France to the very top.
Whatever happens today, Japan and Eddie Jones have left their mark and Scotland are going to have to play out of their skins to win.