Japan head coach Eddie Jones has criticised World Rugby’s decision to stage Japan’s “home” Nations Championship clash against Ireland in Australia.
It was recently confirmed that the Brave Blossoms will face Andy Farrell’s Ireland in Newcastle, New South Wales, rather than in Japan.
The upcoming North v South tournament – being held for the first time – will see the top teams from the northern and southern hemispheres come together, with the Six Nations sides grouped in one pool and the Rugby Championship nations, plus Fiji and Japan, in the other, despite Japan being based in the north.
As with traditional mid-year tours, European teams will travel south during the July window, with Ireland scheduled to face Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
However, instead of playing in Japan, Ireland will meet the Brave Blossoms in Australia before continuing on to New Zealand.
The arrangement means Japan will effectively have to travel around 10 hours for one of their “home” fixtures, before returning to Tokyo for their third match of the month against France.
“You know why we’re playing Ireland in Newcastle, right? Ireland have all the power at World Rugby, so we have to play our home game, which should be in Tokyo, in Australia to make sure Ireland don’t have to travel too much,” Jones said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
Host of the show, David Pembroke, then looked for more clarity, asking Jones: “So Ireland said: ‘we’re not going to Tokyo’?”
Jones duly responded: “We just have to suck it up and that’s what happens when you’re not a major political power at the table.”
Pembroke pressed further, wondering how much say Japan had over the decision to move the contest to Newcastle.
“I know how they took place,” Jones stated. “Ireland say: ‘We’re not going from New Zealand to Japan and then back to Australia, we’re not doing that’.”
“Japan, you want to be in the Nations Cup? Yes, of course we do, but you’ve got to use one of your home games to play in Australia.
“It’s simple mate, it’s not complicated.”
Japan and Fiji were invited to play in the competition, but in return, they have had to make concessions.
They are the only teams that have had to move their ‘home’ games with the Pacific Islanders playing all three matches in Britain.
“We’ve got to be grateful to be in the Nations Cup and at the end of the day it’s a huge honour for Japan to be in the Nations Cup, so we’ve got to accept there might be some inequalities in terms of the distribution of games,” Jones added.
