Rugby is moving in a ‘dangerous direction’, warns Japan coach Eddie Jones

After three years in charge, Jones had already announced his decision to step down from his post in Japan following the World Cup, and has been snapped up by former Irish assistant coach Gert Smal, who is now Director of Rugby at the Western Province.

Nor does the battering the Japan players took and the need to try to raise their game again so quickly particularly play into Scotland’s hands, he claimed. “At 55 I should be in Barbados watching cricket”, Jones said.

He said: “When we watched Japan, we had one eye on our game against them as well and our analysis of them has been spot on”.

South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula has heaped pressure on the under-fire Springboks by warning them that nothing less a convincing victory over Samoa this weekend can salvage national pride following their defeat by Japan. “What they do we can’t control, we can only control what we do”.

The win has brought the World Cup spotlight like never before onto the courageous Blossoms ” and helped rugby, a niche sport in Japan, take attention away from football, baseball and sumo.

But he said the All Blacks needed to stay tuned in for tougher tests ahead.

The stadium’s first taste of World Cup rugby was a momentous occasion as the underdogs pulled off one of the biggest – if not the biggest – upset in rugby union history.

Speaking at a Wallabies press conference in Bath on Sunday, Cheika said: “I think it shows the great values that people have to have”. “We haven’t just come here to make one splash in the pond, we are here to play a World Cup and we want to make the quarter-finals”.

South Africa’s next Pool B game is against Samoa at Villa Park on Saturday.

“Eddie was always on my mind in terms of potential external candidates and it’s a massive coup that we have signed a coach of his ability – his coaching credentials and achievements speak for themselves”, Stormers Director of Rugby Gert Small said in a statement.

“So this win has built an enormous amount of interest back there, so we’ve just got to build on that now, starting with our next game against Scotland”.

Little more than 48 hours ago he was just another name on Japan’s team sheet for their Rugby World Cup opener against South Africa.

But Taylor insists the Dark Blues have not let the hype surrounding the game affect their preparation as they look forward to finally getting their tournament underway.