Wales fly out to Japan today as they look to end their 17-Test losing run
As Wales fly out to Japan on Wednesday, they do so with weeks of preparation for the humid and hot conditions that await them.
Temperatures are set to rise above 30°C Kitakyushu and Kobe in the coming weeks, with the added humidity only serving to make conditions that little bit more difficult. It’s little wonder why the kick-off times in Japan has been a source of negotiations behind the scenes.
British TV broadcasters are understood to want a later kick-off from the 6am UK time, but Japan coach Eddie Jones has remained steadfast on the 2pm local start time. As things stand, it’s not entirely clear if the kick-off time has been finalised.
Jones’ hardball stance – described by one source as ‘playing silly buggers’ – is understandable, with the heat likely to be stifling at that time of the day. Working in special chambers to acclimatise to the heat and humidity should help Wales, but Japan’s style of play will be another factor to contend with.
A statistic hammered into the Welsh squad in recent days is that Japan boast the fourth-best speed of ball out of the top 13 nations in the world.
Little wonder then that Jones recently stated his hope that the Brave Blossoms would “really run Wales off their feet” – hence the analysis.
It’s a piece of information that has clearly been repeated in meetings and training – one which will stay with them on the lengthy direct flight to Japan.
“Watching Japan, that’s the way they have played for a long time,” said defence coach Gethin Jenkins this week. “They try to get quick ball and as fast rucks as possible.
“Their stats in that area are quite high, so we are aware of what’s coming from them. It’s my job to put things in place so we can slow up their ball and impose our defence on them.”
He added: “I won’t pretend we haven’t talked about it in terms of what it’s going to be like. The training some of the boys have been put through in terms of that heat out there.
“Greasy balls. It does a little bit play into the defence, but not too much. When you’re preparing you want to get your system in place and what you want to do.
“If it is a greasy ball that’s a bonus, means one or tweaks come game week in terms of what’s coming. It hasn’t had much impact on what I’m doing.
“More of a case where do we get our energy from as a team and what our game plan and game model looks like on the field. That’s an overall factor talked about as a group of coaches rather than just in defence.” Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Stopping the adventurous Brave Blossoms will be some task in those conditions. Cardiff defence coach Jenkins has been brought back into the international fold by club colleague Matt Sherratt, three years after leaving his role in charge of Wales’ defence.
In the meantime, while Jenkins continued to develop as a coach at the Arms Park, Mike Forshaw – still technically contracted by the Welsh Rugby Union right now – took over.
There were fleeting successes, with Wales being solid in the World Cup in 2023, but ultimately they conceded over 100 tries in 29 Tests – losing 23 of those matches – and Forshaw seems likely to take up a job with Leicester Tigers when his contract with the WRU expires soon.
Jenkins, who worked under Wayne Pivac before being overlooked once Warren Gatland returned to his Wales head coaching post, has benefitted from a solid amount of preparation time to get his philosophies in place.
However, ahead of a tricky test in Japan, he hasn’t gone about reinventing the wheel.
“Mike Forshaw would have worked hard to put his system in place,” said the former Wales loosehead. “There’ll be little tweaks over calling systems and what I ask of players.
“But in this small space of time it’s how you put a lot of info in. That’s been the biggest challenge in the last couple of weeks. How do I simplify everything.
“I’m not starting from scratch. It’s just about what tweaks I can make with the players. The other thing is that when they come back into Wales camp they have been at four or five different clubs. Sometimes it is a re-set anyway. You are almost adding your stuff in. You have to recap everything anyway.
“That’s been the challenge, getting as much or as little info in. Already in the week or two from where we started I’ve seen big improvements, which is a good thing.
“It’s about getting them comfortable with the way I want them to defend. It’s not easy for some of them because they might be used to defending in a different way. There has been good buy in and some real positives in transferring what I want onto the pitch.”
