John Kirwan urges Japan to go for gold in Pacific Nations Cup - Rugby News
Former All Blacks and present coach of the Japanese rugby team, John Kirwan, has urged his side to lift their game in the forthcoming Pacific Nations Cup. The Pacific Nations Cup is kicking off on July 2 and the opener will be played between Japan and Samoa,
in Chichibu, Tokyo. The championship will be played from July 2 to 13 in three rounds.
John Kirwan has got plenty of experience both on the field and as a coach. He has 63 caps for the All Blacks and has remained part of New Zealand’s national side from 1984 to 1994. He started his coaching career as an assistant coach of Auckland Blues in
2001. He has been coaching the Japanese team since 2007.
Although the Japanese are the current Asian champs, their coach is not satisfied with their performance on the front lines. Kirwan has suggested that the Japanese put extra effort into their game to win this year’s title.
Talking to media today on June 27, Kirwan said that they have got the potential to win the international event. He further said that the Japanese side lacks in their offensive style which can harm them in the upcoming event.
He argued that, "If we think that today's going to be enough to win against Samoa then we're kidding ourselves. We lost our structure in attack a couple of times and if we had been a little more patient we could have scored a couple more tries. It's back
to work tomorrow."
Kirwan shifted his conversation and said that the Japanese side has been keen to develop their defence. He explained that, “Defensively we stuck to our patterns and got off the line and tackled well. Our accuracy wasn't always as we would have liked. We're
trying to play a different style of game with our halfbacks becoming a big part of our attack, and you started to see that today.”
The coach expressed his reservations after Japan’s clash against the domestic team, Top League, on Sunday, June 26. The national side of Japan overcame the domestic side by a huge margin of 49-7 but their coach was not impressed by their effort.
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