Eddie Jones has spent the week showing his Japan players footage of migrating geese. It is not, he insists, an eccentricity for its own sake.
Japan lost 35-32 to Australia at Hanazono a week ago, a three-point margin that flattered nobody and left Jones convinced his side's support running was the difference. The two teams meet again in Townsville on Saturday, kicking off at 15:15 local time at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, and the coach has turned to ornithology for the fix.
"The reason we watch videos of geese is that the head of the flock is like the ball-carrier," Jones said. "The ball carrier is king, and then everyone else has got to follow after that. The geese fly hundreds, thousands of miles in formation and they follow the one goose in front, and it's the responsibility of the support players to respond to what the ball-carrier does."
Japan have never beaten the Wallabies in eight previous meetings stretching back to 1975. In the last two they have fallen short by four points and three. Jones, a former Wallabies and England coach, is not pretending the target is anything other than the obvious one.
"We've set ourselves the task of really taking it to Australia this week," he said. "We're very disappointed to lose the last game, so the most important thing now is how we take on this game."
In a statement released by the Japan Rugby Football Union on Thursday, he expanded on what he has seen in camp. "We've got a really good group of players together at the moment. I am very excited about how they're developing as a squad, in terms of their cohesion and the chemistry they're developing," Jones said. "We've had excellent preparation and I couldn't ask for any more from the players, so we're ready to go."
The changes are mostly positional. Warner Dearns again captains from lock, where Harry Hockings comes into the starting pack in a straight swap with Jack Cornelsen, and Tiennan Costley takes the openside berth. Haruto Kida returns on the left wing. Waseda University's Yoshitaka Yazaki, 22, is named on the right, though Jones said he would operate "as a second full-back". Shunsuke Uenobo, winning his third cap, makes a first start at inside centre, with the 108kg Samisoni Tua held back for the bench.
Jones has stuck with university student Ryunosuke Ito at 10, the fly-half who impressed in Osaka on only his fourth international appearance. "His ability to adapt to games is improving, to play to the strengths of his game is improving," Jones said. "But like any young 10, each game is a different game."
The conditions should change the shape of the contest. The Osaka Test was played in extreme heat and humidity; Townsville in August is expected to be fast and dry, which suits Jones's stated preference for chosoku — high-tempo — rugby.
Australia arrive with changes of their own. Carter Gordon returns from injury at fly-half in place of Declan Meredith, and Les Kiss has largely rebuilt his pack, with Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou at prop and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto packing down alongside Lachlan Shaw. Massimo De Lutiis is in line to become Wallaby No.1000 off the bench. Miles Amatosero, red-carded in Osaka, is unavailable.
Kiss had flagged the reshuffle within hours of the first Test. "I'd imagine there will be one or two tweaks," he said. "This trip took a lot out of a lot of guys; we'll have to look at where the energy is, and at the numbers, because you lose a lot of weight."
His players say the licence he has handed them survives a scratchy first outing. Halfback Ryan Lonergan pointed to the two quick taps that gifted Japan possession — one from Fraser McReight that led directly to Japan's opening try, another fumbled by Meredith in front of his own posts — as growing pains rather than a reason to retreat.
"He has given us the licence to play and is all for us having a crack — if we see space, take it," Lonergan said. "Now it's up to us to know how to make use of it. We've got to know that when we take that space we've got to be on board with it and commit."
Kiss, asked about the cameras catching him laughing in the coaching box with the result still in the balance, was unapologetic. "It wasn't frivolous," he said. "We're learning about each other in the box, getting on well, and it was a nice little moment and I know it was tight but you've got to have fun doing this, too."
Japan (15-1): Takuro Matsunaga; Yoshitaka Yazaki, Dylan Riley, Shunsuke Uenobo, Haruto Kida; Ryunosuke Ito, Naoto Saito; Faulua Makisi, Tiennan Costley, Ben Gunter; Warner Dearns (capt), Harry Hockings; Shuhei Takeuchi, Hayate Era, Takato Okabe.
