Japan have returned home to a hero’s welcome after winning three games at the Rugby World Cup but being denied a place in the quarter-finals by the superior points scoring of South Africa and Scotland.
As fans and photographers lined the arrivals lounge at Tokyo airport, their veteran Australian coach Eddie Jones expanded on the legacy the team had created, describing them as “the new sporting heroes of Japan”.
He said of the players: “They’ve changed Japanese rugby. They’ve worked hard, but, more importantly, they have played with courage, not only physical courage but mental courage – mental courage of playing the Japanese way. It would not matter if we went out to play in a pink jersey, now people would recognise the Japanese style of play.
“To finish the tournament ranked ninth in the world, to finish ahead of countries like England, is an absolutely amazing success story. But like any success story the next chapter’s so important.
“The next chapter for Japanese rugby is making sure it can find new players with more talent and desire and to make sure this group of players keeps improving.”
Jones, who is leaving Japan to start work in Cape Town with the Stormers in November, said it was imperative that Japanese rugby capitalised on the success of the World Cup.
“I always thought Japanese rugby was underperforming. There’s a lot of good players in Japan but unfortunately the rugby culture in Japan is not about performance.
“From high school, into university and even in the Top League teams, they don’t train to perform at a high level, they train to be disciplined, they train to be obedient, and therefore they don’t learn the game.
“The quality of Japanese players is very high. To keep going in the right direction, there has to be mindset changes in Japanese rugby.
“If you have a fast man at university, if you make him train six times a week, and you train like a middle-distance runner, then he’s not going to be fast. And that’s what happens. Usain Bolt does not train to be a marathon runner, he trains to be a sprinter.
“The high school, university and Top League teams need to train rugby players to be rugby players. If that happens then the depth of players that play in Japan will be increased. The competition between the players will increase, the desire will increase, and therefore you get a stronger national team.”
He said of his own legacy: “The result of the World Cup is not about me, it’s about the players. The fans should be saying they want these players to continue. These are the guys that made the result.
“There will be another coach come and probably be better that me. The way this team develops will be the quality of the players here.
“It’s always sad when you leave a team that you love.”
