Eddie Jones Aims High: Expresses Desire for Japanese Players to Mirror Shohei Othani’s Success
Eddie Jones, the man who created "the biggest upset in the history of sports" by defeating South Africa at the World Cup in 2003, is back after a nine-year absence! The roller coaster ride is about to begin.
The famous general returned to Japan for the first time in nine years.
Since I started my coaching career in Japan in 1995, I have always had a sense of mission for the national team wherever I have been, and I have always wanted to finish my career in Japan,” he said. There is still room for growth in the national team. I want to give back everything I have learned in my long career.”
Australian-born head coach Eddie Jones (64) was first appointed HC of the Japan national team in 2012. At the time, Japan had won only one game in seven World Cup tournaments. Jones trained the national team with the theme of hard work, forcing them to practice hard five times a day from 5:00 a.m., and in 2003, the team defeated South Africa, a strong team that had won the World Cup twice (now four times). The team stunned the world by defeating South Africa, a powerhouse that had won the World Cup twice (now four times), in 2003, in what was described as “the biggest upset in sports history. He was so successful that he was appointed HC of the England national team in November of the same year. In the 1919 tournament, he led England to a runner-up finish, defeating the All Blacks of New Zealand, the world’s strongest and most talented nation. In the 2011 tournament, he led the two-time champion Australia team.
”All the achievements and accolades belong to the players.” The Japan national team at the ’15 World Cup had more great players and worked harder than any team I have ever coached. I was also able to fulfill my role as their commander.”
But – and HC Jones looked the author in the eye.
For the past eight years, Japan’s winning percentage against the top ten nations has been 7%. We need to increase this winning percentage to 75% to make the top four.”
At a press conference in January, HC Jones declared, “We will go from being ranked 12th to 1st in the world. At a training camp for national team candidates held in Fukuoka in February, Jones held one-on-one meetings with all the players.
The players said they wanted to be in the top four and they wanted to be world-class players,” he said. In other words, they want to be the Shohei Ohtani of the rugby world. My job is to find a way to make their dreams come true. The players need to change, and so do I. My big challenge is to see how much more I can get out of the players.”
Ohtani has taken the Major Leagues by storm by playing two sports that everyone in baseball thought were impossible, and he even surprised the world by winning the home run crown.
Japanese players have the potential to be like Otani. If we can formulate ‘super-fast rugby,’ we can beat the All Blacks and become No. 1 in the world.
