Eddie Jones has stated that Japan will give it a “red-hot go” when they face the back-to-back world champions in London on Saturday.
After running the Wallabies close last weekend, the Brave Blossoms have travelled to the UK capital for an even tougher challenge.
The Japanese do appear to have made some improvements this year, but the extent of their progress will be determined by their performance this weekend.
South Africa are renowned for their forward power, something Japan are not particularly known for, and Jones expects their opponents to be direct at Wembley.
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“I don’t think it’s any secret when you’re playing against South Africa, and they don’t make it a secret. They get 30 metres from your line, two forwards come around the same way and you know it’s coming, you’ve just got to be good enough to stop it,” he said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“You’ve got to be able to neutralise the high ball and if you can stop those two parts, you will give yourselves a chance of winning the game.”
Jones was head coach when Japan shocked the Springboks at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and a decade on the template may well be similar.
The former England and Wallabies boss is certainly aware of the need to keep it away from the set-piece, but knows they must be sensible in how they approach it, in contrast to the All Blacks, who were put to the sword by the Springboks in Wellington.
“When you get possession, you’ve got to be accurate and you’ve got to be sharp,” Jones said.
“They give you opportunities to attack. They play a half blitz defence where the winger can come in from the 15 metres to close at the near post, so you’ve either got to try to play through that, which is one way, or play over it, or like New Zealand traditionally do, try to play around it, which is fraught with high risk and little return.
“We’ll try to find a way to break that down and give it a red-hot go.”
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Verdict of another ex-Wallabies boss
Jones was joined on the show by fellow former Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie, who also gave his view on the upcoming clash.
“I think South Africa will just try and steamroll them, there won’t be any change in their game plan. They will try and use maybe a bit of high ball, they will be testing Japan out that way and test their scrum on attack and defence – all the things you would expect,” McKenzie said.
“They will run very direct and try and bulldoze them, I would have thought.
“They’re (Japan) going to have to tackle well and then obviously be precise in attack.
“In those key playmaking areas, just control the tempo of the game. If you don’t give them set-piece opportunities, keep moving, don’t let the game stop too much… they would be things I would be thinking about.”