The Eddie Jones latest as doubts cast on Japan boss' attendance
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Eddie Jones put the finishing touches to Japan’s preparations for Sunday’s clash with England to allay concerns over his ability to attend the Allianz Stadium showdown.
Jones was forced to withdraw from his media duties on Friday due to a cold but the Australian was present at Twickenham a day later for his team’s final training session of the week.
The former England boss has been under scrutiny for his management style following the publication of allegations by Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care that he acted as a “tyrant” and “despot” during his seven years in charge.
Jones opened his second spell as Japan boss with a 52-17 defeat in Tokyo in June, but captain Naoto Saito insists his Brave Blossoms are now a more dangerous side.
“England are really dominant in the set-piece and under the high ball and I’m sure they will bring those threats against us,” Saito said.
“Of course we have counter measures for that and how we use those will be really important to our game. We’ve been focusing on ourselves.
“We started this campaign playing against England. We’ve gone 10 games deep now and are playing them away from home.
“We are really keen to show how much we have developed our attacking game.
“Against England’s fast line speed we really want to nail our accuracy in attack. That’s the part of the game that we would like to continue to develop.”
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We’re behind on player development in NZ. We still think we know it all and therefore still have amateur age systems in place we call professional because the people in it are paid.
Players like Prendergast and Finn Smith already have a few seasons at top club level under their belt and are now test players, at an age when NZ players make their debuts in SR. 21 is young now. Dan Carter was an AB at that age. Jacomb is 23 already. Never mind France, where talented young players are loaned out to clubs in lower leagues where they play men instead of boys. The ProD2 toughens you up pretty quickly. It’s where real talent goes that is too good for the espoirs (U21).
Our development is all over the place. Club, school, then back to the club, NPC, SR, ABs. Leinster is a good example. They decide how schools play, who plays and in what position. Schools play the ‘Leinster way'. French clubs have academies where kids enter as young as 12. They have clear pathways on their player development. What position(s) they play etc. Our schools are only interested in themselves.
SR clubs need the same control over schools in their catchment area as Leinster has. That would be a start.
Go to commentsI’d love to know the odds on a Western Force/ Highlanders final?
If Barrett and Ioane keep this lacklustre form up, they should not make the ABs squad. Getting outplayed by a whole team of young and inexperienced players should not win you any favours.
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