TOKYO: Japan rugby coach Jamie Joseph has reunited with architect Eddie Jones for the 2023 World Cup ‘Miracle of Brighton’, but was warned on Tuesday.
The 2019 quarter-finalists are Argentina in Pool D and coach with the England team. In 2015, Japan defeated South Africa in a tournament in England.
Jones’ relationship with Japanese rugby goes back decades, and he is still the rugby director of the Tokyo club Sun Tori Sungoliath. But Joseph is sure to overtake the Australian players when they meet in three years.
“I think he’s far behind England to worry about at this point,” Joseph told an online news conference from his home in New Zealand.
“He knows everything about rugby beyond what we do. We always match.”
Japan stunned Ireland and Scotland in the quarter-finals on home soil at last year’s World Cup.
The corona virus pandemic and a super rugby reorganization failed to capitalize on the Asian nation by 2020.
The Tokyo-based Sun Wolves have been knocked out of Super Rugby after winning just eight games in four full seasons, while the national team has not played due to a pandemic since the World Cup.
The domestic top league has also been inactive since leaving the season in February after six rounds. On Tuesday, Joseph warned his players to get acquainted with high-level rugby in 2023.
“The Sunwolves have not had very successful results, but if we prepare our players for a major campaign in 2019, that is what we want,” Joseph said.
“Having a match similar to Super Rugby will be crucial to our preparation.
“I do not believe the top league alone will be enough rugby. Of course, if we do not have an extensive Test-match season, it may be on the cards again.”
Joseph and his coaching staff were unable to re-enter Japan to prepare the team due to corona virus restrictions, forcing Japan to reject an invitation to the Autumn Nations Cup in Europe last month.
Japan will miss home Tests against England and Wales in the summer and matches against Ireland and Scotland in the autumn.
Japan will face the British and Irish Lions on June 26 in Edinburgh. The Japan Rugby Football Union said Tuesday. He is confident that he will host three excellent Test matches before and after that match.
AFP
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