Scotland 45 Japan 10: Scottish joy but Eddie Jones fury at Rugby World Cup 2015 schedule
Japan coach deeply unhappy with having to play two games in four days
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Your support makes all the difference.Eddie Jones, the Japan coach, one of the sharpest thinkers in modern rugby as well as one of the sport's more outspoken spirits, reacted to his side's defeat by Scotland in front of a full house in Gloucester by calling on the men who run the World Cup to address the iniquities of a fixture list that forces teams to play two hard games in four days.
“I said we wouldn’t use the short turnaround as an excuse, and we won’t,” the Australian said after watching his men lose 45-10, just 96 hours after their famous victory over South Africa in Brighton. “We thought we had a realistic chance to win at half-time, but Scotland were good after the break and we weren’t good enough. But is it possible to reproduce a performance like the one against the Boks with so little time available? On this evidence, probably not.
“There should be a greater spread of fixtures. The reason there isn’t is television, so go and ask the TV guys why it doesn’t happen. I’m not an administrator, thank goodness. I’m just a silly rugby coach.”
Jones was disappointed by the scale of his side’s defeat, but far from downhearted. “I expect South Africa to rebound hard and if they do, I think Scotland will find it difficult to beat them,” he said. “As for us, we don’t play again for 10 days, and if we can knock off Samoa in our next match, we’ll have a fantastic chance of qualifying.
“So I’m hoping that when the Samoans play the Springboks [at Villa Park on Saturday], it will be like the UFC final. Because then, Samoa will have to back up against us. What goes around comes around.”
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