“The challenge in Japan is there is an Olympic Games in 2020 and we are in a market where we have a less latent rugby audience who would naturally buy tickets for the Rugby World Cup”, he said. The fans should be saying they want these players to continue.
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Thus we see as I said before Great Britain in the quarters without England.
“When you are 55, you are brought up with good manners”. Luckily, I didn’t listen and I gained a lot of experience.
Unfortunately, despite three wins, Japan bowed out after finishing third in their group but they left a lasting impression on students and staff. “No problem … business as usual”, Jones said after Scotland had beaten Samoa 36-33 to guarantee second place in Pool B. With five-team pools, there is always going to be one team not playing in each “round”. Having pushed New Zealand in their opening match, Argentina cruised through their next three games to finish with the most points of any team in the first stage. And the governing body should be praised for the work they have done in creating more regular competitions and bringing in coaching expertise for those lower-tier countries.
“Maybe tonight, there were 30 million people watching in Japan – that’s the whole of the Australian population, plus the kangaroo population, New Zealand and all the sheep”.
The 25-year-old was the best player on the pitch in the courageous Blossoms defeat to Scotland before leaving the field through injury, and again in his sides victory over the United States of America, where he scored in either game.
Despite being mindful of the union’s stance on the matter, he said: ‘I would recommend any young players with that opportunity to play overseas, to play in Super 15, or in Europe.
The qualifying structure for 2019 has not been confirmed and it’s unlikely World Rugby would limit Oceania to just one place this time given the talent on the islands, but whether all three will make it is the big question. This is what sport can do.
The six captains mentioned above are all playing in the biggest leagues in club rugby, and there are a number of players who should soon join them if they haven’t already. Tighthead prop Hiroshi Yamashita replaces the more experienced Kensuke Hatakeyama, who drops to the reserves, and Justin Ives is at lock for Hitoshi Ono, who became Japan’s oldest ever global at 37 against Samoa. Make it five pools of four teams so everyone gets the same treatment and determining the quarter-finalists becomes complicated. We don’t have power, so we had to use skill and running lines and combinations to break down the defence.
Henry Slade and Jack Nowell shined in their first appearance of the tournament as they helped put sixty points against Uruguay.
Jones predicted kids in Japan would now be practicing to kick goals like Ayumu Goromaru, pack down in scrums like Kensuke Hatakeyama, and score tries like winger Yoshikazu Fujita.
He said of his own legacy: “The result of the World Cup is not about me, it’s about the players”. We took a grip at times, but let ourselves down with simple errors.
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It is understood that the RFU are preparing to announce details in the next three days of their post-World Cup review process, but the findings are unlikely to be delivered until long after the tournament ends.
