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'We'll see what happens': USA looking to do 'big things' against Eddie Jones' Japan
By Ben Smith
Japan laid down a marker in the opening round of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup when they demolished Canada by 55-28 in BC Place Vancouver.
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A double by lock Warner Dearns, a try on debut for Malo Tuitama, and two more to openside Kanji Shimokawa and Australian-raised centre Dylan Riley had the Brave Blossoms up 38-0 after half an hour.
While it wasn’t quite the same points extravaganza, the USA Eagles got the job done over the same Canada side by 28-15 in their opening fixture. The two nations now face off to determine the winner of Pool B before the final series in Japan.
The United States were quietly assured ahead of the fixture, intent on heading to Tokyo with an “American game plan” to do “big things”.
Head coach Scott Lawrence said they won’t be trying to change too much to slow down the speed of the Brave Blossoms, instead looking to fire some shots of their own.
“We’ll play our game plan. We’ll play the American game plan, and and we’ll see what happens,” Lawrence told RugbyPass.
Lock Greg Peterson accepted that Japan pose a significant challenge on a short turnaround and reiterated that the key is refining the game that they are working on.
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“I think it’s just again, just focusing on ourselves,” he said.
“Keep refining what we’re doing and stuff what we did well today and what and fine tune what we can do better at, you know, there’s plenty that we can pick at.
“Japan are an exceptional side with a very skilled, very skilled forward pack and very fast back so we know we’ll have our work cut out for us.
“We’ve got to travel over there in a short week. So it’s we’re going to be up against it, but that’s the challenge of international rugby. The boys have to get used to that.
“And I think the more challenges we get, the more games we get like this. We learn to play like this. So I’m excited about that.”
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Inside centre Tomasso Boni said that the Eagles will be looking to shut down Japan’s speed and “play on top of them”.
If the score lines against Canada are the yardstick, it does suggest that Japan has the edge but Boni believes there is a lot of untapped potential left in this USA side.
“They bring a lot of tempo. They bring a lot of speed, speed of set, and they’re not afraid to play… but we’re not afraid to defend and play on top of them.
“We analyze them also, and we can see that they have a really good timing, and also confidence. But we’re working really hard on defense to shut down their plays and launches as well.
“It will be exciting, because I think we can do good things, big things.”
