Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said it would be a massive mistake to underestimate Japan going into their opening clash in the November Internationals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, and stressed the importance of delivering on their own standards to start their five-match tour on a positive note.
The teams will cross paths at the iconic stadium in London for the first time at 18h10 on Saturday, with the match being broadcast live and exclusively on SuperSport.
“We have a lot of respect for Japan; they showed what they can do last week when they faced Australia and only lost by four points,” said Stick.
“They are a well-organised team with good coaching staff, so we know it’s going to be tough. We dug deep into their profiles this week because they have very dangerous backline players and a strong pack as well.
“A lot of people tend to focus on their size, but personally, I look at the heart they show, and how physical they are. They don’t stand back for anyone, so the key for us will be to pitch up properly and execute our game plan well because they also want to win, while we’d also like to get a good start to what is going to be a long tour.”
Stick emphasised the importance of playing to their potential going into the match and said: “The key for us is to deliver on our standards. We take pride in our set pieces, kicking game, and our defence, irrespective of who we play against, so we need to set a strong foundation and show our intent from the outset.
“A team like Japan have players who can punish you, so even though there is a chance that it may rain, we need to deliver solid set pieces and play in the right areas of the field.
“In 2019, they beat Ireland and Scotland, and although we don’t want to dwell too much on our match against them in 2015, they’ll also draw inspiration from that result.”
With Japanese coach Eddie Jones making his opinions clear this week as they prepared for the match, Stick said, while it was nothing new to the team, Jones’ track record speaks for itself as he looks to psyche up his players for the Wembley battle.
“If you look at Eddie’s record and where he has coached in his career, he is a world-renowned coach,” said Stick.
“He’s also been to South Africa, and he understands how we operate, so he knows the right buttons to press when it comes to motivating his players. He’s already said a win at Wembley will be something special for them, and a lot of those guys play for him.
“Adding to that, he has a good coaching staff behind him with guys like Gary Gold, who has coached some of our players, and Victor Matfield, who has played with some of the guys in our team, and they understand our DNA. So, we need to be at our best on Saturday.”