Japan coach Jones says team should not get despondent after heavy loss / Photo: © AFP
Japan coach Jones says team should not get despondent after heavy loss
Japan coach Eddie Jones said his young team must learn to keep their focus for 90 minutes but should not become despondent after collapsing in the second half against Australia on Saturday.
The visitors went to the break trailing just 21-17 after an even first half in Townsville but then leaked 35 unanswered points to crash 56-17 after the hosts stepped on the gas.
It followed a narrow 35-32 defeat against Les Kiss's team in Osaka last week.
"We showed we can do it for 40 minutes. You know, we've played two good halves of rugby against Australia (over two Tests), we've got blown away in the second half," said Jones.
"They won the air, won the breakdown. We weren't good enough to defend our errors," he added. "Congratulations to Australia."
Despite the heavy loss, Jones said it was all part of the learning experience for his mostly inexperienced side, with 10 players fielded in Townsville having fewer than 10 caps.
Two of those in the starting line-up -- winger Yoshitaka Yazaki and fly-half Ryunosuke Ito -- were university students.
"It's a great experience today, albeit quite a difficult experience. But sometimes the most difficult experiences are the best experiences," Jones said.
"We've got boys today that are amateur players. They've got to go back to university probably next week, probably Monday.
"They train with 150 players, one coach, one physio. Wouldn't happen anywhere else in the world.
"So, yeah, when you put all of that together and the experience they've picked up, it's a great learning experience for them."
Japan captain Warner Dearns was similarly not worried by the size of the defeat, as the side builds towards the World Cup in Australia next year.
"I think giving our younger guys experience like this before the World Cup, it sets us up really well for having good depth going into the World Cup," he said.
"The boys are obviously still learning Test match level footy, and it's a bit of a challenge sometimes. But they're having a lot of fun, and we're having a lot of fun playing with them."
I.Richter--BP
