‘I enjoy beating Australia’: Jones fires shot at Wallabies ahead of Test clash

Japan coach Eddie Jones has expressed enjoyment at the prospect of beating the Wallabies and said the mass changes made by rival coach Joe Schmidt for their clash in Tokyo provide an opportunity for the Brave Blossoms to pull off an upset.

Jones’ comments came after he named four Australians in his 23-man squad to play the Wallabies at the National Stadium on Saturday: Ben Gunter, Dylan Riley, Jack Cornelsen will all start, and Sam Greene was selected on the bench.

Former Reds lock Harry Hockings recently joined the Japan squad, too, but the giant forward is not eligible to make his Test debut until next month.

The spring tour opener will be the Wallabies’ first game in Tokyo, and the first encounter with Jones since he returned for a calamitous second stint with the national team in 2023. In the first year of a five-year contract with RA, Jones conducted a Zoom interview about Japan’s head coach vacancy ahead of the 2023 World Cup, and after resigning from the Wallabies post-tournament, rejoined Japan 45 days later.

The Wallabies are favourites to beat world No.13 Japan, but Jones is eyeing an upset after Schmidt elected to rest several stars, made 13 changes to his starting side, and also appointed Nick Champion de Crespigny as the new captain, in just his third Test.

The Japan coach has a strong record against the Wallabies, after a long run of success when in charge of England between 2016 and 2022.

“I enjoy beating Australia – I coached against them 10 times for England and beat them nine times,” Jones said after naming his side.

“Playing against your own country, there’s always a certain amount of different feeling involved in it, but it just brings out the extreme competitive spirit within yourself.”

The Wallabies’ changes presented a “winning opportunity”, said Jones.

“When you’re playing a team that has got a lot of players that are playing for a spot, and they want to be the starting guys, if things don’t go their way at the start of the game, they can get frustrated,” Jones said.

The former coach later told SEN radio that the Wallabies were vulnerable under pressure.

“One thing you’ve seen with Australia is that when they do get under pressure, they can make mistakes,” Jones told SEN.

Schmidt conceded there was risk in rolling out a changed side, and not just because losing to Jones’ and Japan would be a humbling backward step after a year of growth and occasional success.

The Wallabies will also drop to eighth in the world rankings if they lose, and the world rankings are all-important in the next five weeks, given the 2027 World Cup seedings will be finalised at the end of the year.

The Wallabies must finish in the top six to be a top seed in one of the six pools; a status that will likely help the team go further in the tournament. They currently sit seventh.

Champion de Crespigny said it was a huge privilege, and a shock, to be named captain, but said he’d been overwhelmed with messages of support from the squad and even ex-Wallabies like John Eales.

“I never take these things very lightly, it’s a huge honour,” he said. “But I’d also say it’s a squad mentality and a group focus, there’s leaders within the group like Andrew Kellaway, Jake Gordon, Jeremy William, who captains at the Western Force. So we’ll all be leaders in sections of the field, and in sections of the game on Saturday.

“It’s somewhat surprising and not something [I expected]. As a little boy you always look up to the Wallabies and I was fortunate enough to grow up and watch John Eales, George Gregan, Michael Hooper captain this country.

“You look up to those guys since you were little so yeah, it’s a massive honour and privilege.”

Champion de Crespigny dismissed concerns about the Wallabies’ capacity to beat Japan after undergoing massive changes.

“You look at the team with the big names, you’ve got Angus Bell who’s on 50 caps, Lukhan [Salakaia-Loto] who’s one of the best lock in the world, you’ve got Bobby Valentini, Carlo Tizzano who’s named the Super Rugby Player of the Year,” he said.

“And you’ve got those combinations like myself and Carlo, Flooky [Josh Flood] and Hunter [Paisami], Josh Nasser and Zane Nonggorr. So as a team we’re really confident in the sort of performance we can put out there.”

With AFP