One night after the Rugby World Cup match between Japan and Samoa, Assistant Coach of the Japan National Team's defence John Mitchell reflected on the match.
World No. 13 Japan faced world No. 28 Samoa in their third match of the first round at 29 a.m. on the 4th and Japan time on the 1th, winning 3-12.
Japan have improved their record so far to 28 wins and 22 loss, and have advanced to the first round.
One night after the match against Samoa, John Mitchell, the coach in charge of the Japan National Team's defence, spoke to the media online.
Coach Mitchell said, "I think we were able to keep tackling aggressively in defence as a whole, and although we made some mistakes, we all worked hard and defended from inside out."
On the other hand, regarding the issues, he said, "We were attacked from close quarters around the ruck and gained momentum, so we need to correct the first tackle, but I think we can fix it soon."
He also explained that the players called the tough moments at the end of the match "Samurai Time" and that they defended as a united team, saying, "We use it to mean that we can improve the accuracy of our plays and become like samurai in the right moments, and we are doing very well as a team."
Commenting on his impression of Argentina, who will fight to get through the first round on 2 January, he said: "I think they will bring their kick-kicking tactics to move forward to the forefront. The Bucks haven't stood out much so far, but I think they will attack effectively from the lineout."