England vs Japan: Brave Blossoms look to Eddie Jones to inspire another major upset

Three years after leading Japan to the biggest victory in their history, Jones will set out to avoid suffering a similar fate

Just when it all seemed to be calming down, English rugby was once more thrown into turmoil on Friday with the news that chief executive Steve Brown is leaving at the end of 2018, barely a year into the top job.

What was supposed to be a weekend to remember for the right reasons in welcoming a tier-two side with aspirations of joining the best to Twickenham could now be the doorway to the next crisis in the oval game, just three years on from the last one.

Brown’s announcement will no doubt come as a shock, given there were no prior warnings of his impending exit even if the RFU’s financial stability continues to worsen and past members fire repeated shots their way.

Sadly, it will be the talk of Twickenham on Saturday and that in itself is a shame given the stage that Japan have been given to showcase why their plan to start troubling the world’s best on a regular basis has legs – particularly in light of the decision to take next year’s Rugby World Cup to the Far East.

That mentality started six years ago by a man named Eddie Jones. Now the current England head coach, Jones took over the Brave Blossoms in 2012 and immediately went about trying the change the mentality of Japanese rugby more than anything else.

“I have been in Japan for 14 years, so I have a lot of experience there and one thing I always noticed was beating a bigger opponent always seemed impossible that is because they have longer arms and longer legs, that was always the excuse,” said Japan captain Michael Leitch on Friday.

“Eddie came a long and changed how we thought about that, he changed the culture. When kids in Japan look at the national team, they see a team that is willing to win and beat top teams, that is how we have changed the culture. Japanese rugby culture now is all about going out there to win.”

This was demonstrated none better than the famous 2015 World Cup over South Africa, where not only did Japan score a last-gasp try to seal the biggest upset win in rugby history, but do so off a scrum where they were expected to be physically dominated by the Springboks. It was that change in mentality that brought about a new chapter in Japanese history, and it’s one that now sees them knocking on the door of the top tier – two weeks ago it was New Zealand staring them down, this week it is England.

Of course this is not saying that they are now expected to beat elite opposition every day of the week. To suggest so would be putting unrealistic expectations on their shoulders ahead of one of the biggest games of their careers, but then they should not be written off either – Jones knows that better than any.

Japan captain Michael Leitch admitted that Eddie Jones change their side's mentality (Getty)

New Zealand may have fielded a second-string side that put 69 points past them in Chofu, but if England fail to hit their A-game Japan have the talent to punish them.

“New Zealand have done that to a few teams, Japan’s not the only team that that’s happened to,” said Jones. “I think they’re progressing really nicely, the team’s regenerated – there’s only five or six players left from the team that I coached and they’re the outstanding players like Leitch, Kenki (Fukuoka) on the wing, those guys are still there – but they’ve brought some good players in and I think Japan are benefitting from playing Super Rugby.

“You see those young guys coming into the squad now and they’re much better prepared for top level rugby and they look like now – which is different to previously – they think they can win. Previously Japanese sides were happy to get beaten, they were the Brave Blossoms, but now this new generation of Japanese players believe that they can win and that makes them a much stronger side.”

Eddie Jones' England side will face his former side Japan on Saturday (Action Images via Reuters) (Reuters)

On a stage as grand as Twickenham in November with close to a sell-out crowd, Japan should have no trouble in hitting their stride. The question is will England? Jones has risked underestimating Japan with his team selection – his claim of selecting the “best team available this weekend” falling on deaf ears by making 11 changes to the side that came within a whisker of beating New Zealand – although that could well be countered by the desire of fringe players aiming to seize their chance in the knowledge that this may be their last outing before the warm-up matches next summer.

Slip up this weekend, that chance may be the final one.