It has been an incredible October here in Japan, especially on the global sports stage. Japan hosted the Volleyball Men’s World Cup, Rugby World Cup, F1 Race at Sasazuka, 2 NBA games (Raptors vs Rockets), and as I write Tiger Woods is in Chiba and leading the ZOZO Championship which is the first golf tournament ever sanctioned by the PGA Tour in Japan. Add to that on October 22 Japan enthroned a new emperor (Naruhito) and the heads of state and monarchy from around the globe were in town.
Tonight South Africa play Wales to advance to the Rugby World Cup finals where the winner will play England, who last night turned the Rugby world upside down with their destruction of the All Blacks from New Zealand. The coach of the English side, the wily Aussie Eddie Jones, provided proof that he is one of the best coaches alive in any sport. In the 2015 World Cup, Eddie was the mastermind behind Japan’s 34 – 32 last second victory over South Africa which the BBC calls ” arguably the biggest upset in rugby union history”. Eddie’s masterpiece last night against New Zealand was also impressive and more than just a victory in a big game, it was a changing of the guard and rubbished the aura of the All Blacks as invincible. The All Blacks had not lost a World Cup match for 4,403 days and none of the players on the 2019 roster had ever even lost a World Cup match. New Zealand was fully in sync last week in putting up 46 points against Ireland, and against England almost everyone was predicting New Zealand to win. What transpired was a 19 – 7 romp by England, and behind the victory was the genius of Eddie Jones.
Part of the game was won before the first half kick off and game started by Jones himself. For the whole week prior to the match Jones held entertaining press conferences in which he became the focus of the media allowing the English team to disappear into the background to focus on prepping for the game. Eddie piled pressure on New Zealand early in the week when he stated ” We’ve got nothing to lose, that’s the exciting thing for us. It is always harder to defend a World Cup and they will be thinking about that and therefore there is pressure”. Eddie continued “[Our players] know they’re human. They bleed, they drop balls, they miss tackles like every other player.” Eddie also made claims that someone was filming their session from an apartment block overlooking their training field in Chiba, while not directly accusing the All Blacks of spying on England. Eddie controlled the narrative causing the media to ask Kiwi coach Steve Hansen to respond to all of Eddie’s comments. I understand the All Black’s Haka is a tradition, and it is great for marketing and promotions, especially in Japan, however from the first time I saw it I thought it was a bit unfair with one team stretching, dancing and chanting while the other team has to just stand there and watch. Last night was different. Eddie instructed England’s players to stand around the haka in a ‘V’ for victory shape, as if they were trying to surround it. The New Zealand players, mid-Haka, probably were not focused on the Haka or match but must have been thinking “what are the English players doing?”. For the first time, during the Haka, the focus was taken away from New Zealand and put it on their opponent.
What transpired at the start of the match reminded me of a quote from Mike Tyson in his prime “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” What occurred in the first 86 seconds of the match was England punching New Zealand in the mouth by scoring a try and going up 7 – 0. The fans, the players, and the coaches knew the next 78 minutes were going to be a high energy war. England made New Zealand’s normally smooth ball-handling look out of sync and haphazard. The English defense was tireless against the best attack in the world and they never let the All Blacks break through. 19 – 7 makes the score look closer than it actually was. England forced turnover after turnover and rattled the All Blacks out of their rhythm. England actually had two tries disallowed by TMO video replay. Even if the calls were correct, they were quite harsh and could have changed the momentum of the game. However the English players shrugged off the calls, watched the points being taken off the board, went back out and punched the All Blacks in the mouth again and kept control of the game. Eddie had instilled a toughness and resilience in this team and they were ruthless for the full 80 minutes.
Four years ago English Rugby was at its lowest point maybe ever. With England hosting the World Cup, the team ignominiously missed the quarter finals, It was the first time that a host nation has gone out at the group stage. This was especially painful for the English team and fans as the sport’s name was taken from the town of Rugby in England, and the World Cup Webb Ellis Trophy named after Ellis, who in 1823 first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the sport. With the poor result in 2015, English Rugby recruited Jones as the first non-English coach and paid him a relatively large salary. They paid him generously to win the big games, which he delivered last week against the Wallabies and last night against the All Blacks. Success.
With Japan in 2015 and England in 2019 Jones has managed two of the most high profile victories in the history of Rugby. Two games that will be talked about for years and even decades to come. Two games won by the players on the field, but won even more by the mind of a genius Rugby geek born in Tasmania to a Japanese mother and Australian father. The sign of a great coach over a merely good coach is having their team peaking at the right moment. In 2018 England rugby went through a 6 game losing streak prompting many to call for Jones to get the sack. In interviews at the time Jones repeated that the losing streak didn’t matter, he was getting the squad ready to be peaking for the World Cup in Japan in 2019. He was proven right and everything’s coming together for the English squad and Jones at the right time.
The World Cup is not over yet and November 2nd England play South Africa or Wales for the Web Ellis Trophy. England will be the heavy favorites. I think Eddie will have the English lads ready to play and the Lions will lift the trophy for the first time since the 2003 World Cup.
