"A dark, wet evening in Brent is a long way from the sun and sea of Brighton. And, boy, there were not many echoes here of rugby's greatest upset quite possibly sport's bar the names of the teams and the inimitable fellow sitting in Japan's coaching box, Eddie Jones. South Africa were 43-point favourites in 2015 and a mere 37 this time, but the reality of lopsided rugby was all too formidably asserted. Instead, it was Wembley that echoed, the lower tier around two-thirds full."
"South Africa, nine of whose squad play their rugby in Japan, wanted to organise this run-out to bring together their squad from around the world before the big one next Saturday against France. As an exercise it worked well enough, the Springboks utterly dominate from start to finish, notching up nine tries in the process. It's interesting, said Jones, that in the 10 years since that game, South Africa have won two World Cups. What Ithat result did was refocus South African rugby on its DNA."
"Japan, though, hasn't really developed its system to meet the demands of international rugby. It's a real challenge for us. There are quality players in Japan. We just need to find a way to fast-track them. These days, South Africa are indisputably the best team in the world, and Japan some way shy of where they were 10 years ago."
A dark, wet evening in Brent contrasted with Brighton as South Africa ran out an overwhelming victory at Wembley, the lower tier around two-thirds full. South Africa entered as heavy favourites and used the match as a squad run-out to gather players from around the world ahead of France. Nine Springboks play their club rugby in Japan. The Springboks dominated from start to finish, scoring nine tries. Japan managed a solitary try from amateur Yoshitaka Yazaki, and Michael Leitch remained in the back row aged 37. Japan’s system was described as not yet meeting international demands.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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