Japan reaction (head coach Joseph, captain Himeno, Matsushima, Lemeki)
- 859
MIXED ZONE REACTION
Kotaro Matsushima, winger
On the Courtney Lawes try:
"At that time we stopped playing, we thought it was a knock-on. We should have just kept playing.
"That definitely changed the game. It’s not them, it’s more us. We have to just learn from that and keep going."
On England’s back three:
"We thought they were going to kick to our backfield. That’s pretty hard to defend, to defend the whole field because they kicked to right field and left field."
On Japan’s development as a team:
"After today's game a couple of boys will be more confident. It wasn't a bad-looking loss, so we just keep going and play with confidence in the next two games and focus on the Samoa game."
Lomano Lemeki, winger
On the disappointment of the defeat:
"We felt we were right in it. Even in the 65th minute when they scored it was 27-12 at that time, I still felt we were in it. We felt the momentum was changing.
"Matsushima made a break, we got all the way down there and we dropped the ball in their 22. Little things like that, against big teams - especially tier-one teams - if you don’t finish those chances, it just deflates your team. Especially our forwards, they were under the pump against a good pack.
"First half we had three chances, we just couldn’t execute and I think that’s how they came back to hit us in the end."
On Japan’s development as a team:
"We’re definitely getting there. We’re getting bigger bodies now and more agile players. We’re moving in the right direction.
"We were focused on what they were going to try and do to us - big pack trying to bully - and I thought our boys were awesome today. It was just the finesse part that we are just missing at the moment.
"Once we did have England under the pump, we just had to put the foot down. We’d get there or thereabouts and cough it up. Big teams know how to squeeze you out with pressure. They eventually did in the end but I don’t think the scoreline reflects how tight the game was. It was a good game.”
On playing Samoa next, and then Argentina in their final game of the group stage:
"It’s a big game. It’s pretty much do or die now.
"We’ve got a 12-day turnaround, so we’ll just get away from footy for two days and refresh mentally. We’ll come back in and I’m sure Browny (assistant coach Tony Brown) will have a mastermind plan in place for us.
"We don’t need bonus points, we just need to win and beat Argentina.
"That’s what you live for - you love the pressure, you love the atmosphere.
"We’re just going to have to do it the hard way now. We win, we live to fight another day, if we lose we’ll go packing. We’ll save our best for these knockout games."
MEDIA CONFERENCE
Jamie Joseph, head coach
On starting well:
"I’m incredibly proud of the guys in terms of how they tried to execute our plan. There were parts of the game that surprised England in terms of the kicking game, we put them under a lot of pressure and created opportunities for us.
"What we learned from that is the opportunities we created, we didn’t take them. We made too many mistakes.
"They are an experienced test rugby side and over the course of time they were able to wear us down. That’s the nature of our game at the highest level. It’s disappointing for us, the boys put a lot of emotional effort into this week.
"We dealt with a lot of pressure, and that’s going to be crucial leading into the next two matches against Samoa and Argentina."
On not taking their opportunities:
"We just made too may mistakes under the pump. A team like us from Japan, to take on a powerhouse like England, we’ve got to get all of this things right and we just didn’t do that. We paid the consequences for it.
"Guys made mistakes but we’re playing one of the best teams in the world at the World Cup. They players did their best to execute the plan, I thought it surprised England and created a little bit of pressure on them, but they’re a good side so they were able to adapt and come back at us.”
On the Courtney Lawes try:
"That’s a first for me, man. Wow.
"We just didn’t have any luck. We blew one here with an overthrow at the lineout, there was a juggling act there by Joe. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck as well, we never got any of that today. I guess that was a fair try. What more can you say really?”
ON-FIELD REACTION
Jamie Joseph, head coach
On Japan’s performance:
"Really proud of my team. We created a lot of opportunities, we just made too many mistakes. England put us under a lot pressure but there were times in the first 16 minutes it was a real arm-wrestle – we just needed to capitalise on those opportunities and we weren’t quite able to."
On Japan’s heart:
"The heart of the team is really sound. We’ve got great leadership, a lot of experience, but it’s a sad lesson because you’ve got to create opportunities when they come."
On the team having a break before their next game against Samoa on Thursday, 28 September:
"That’s important because we’ve been going since June. A couple of days off in the south of France – I’m sure the boys will enjoy it."
Kazuki Himeno, captain
On the team's performance and Courtney Lawes' try:
"I believe that we gave it part of what we planned to do but in the second half we had the unfortunate luck which gave up a try and allowed them to score more.
"We will need to take what we did well in terms of creating our game and put it into the second half. That was on one of the takeaways for us and needs improving. Tough games will continue so we need to completely improve that point."
