Jamie Joseph seeks improvement from Japan after win over Uruguay

Japan head coach Jamie Joseph was pleased with his team's win over Uruguay but seeks more improvement as they line up to face France in a two-game series.

Atsushi Sakate and Dylan Riley scored first half tries for the Brave Blossoms while Ben Gunter, Gerhard van den Heever and Yusuke Kajimura all dotted down in the second half apart from a penalty try as they completed a 43-7 win over Uruguay.

With the Rugby World Cup scheduled next year in France, Joseph highlighted the importance of preparing the squad for the showpiece event where they face England, Argentina, Samoa and a qualifier from the Americas at the World Cup.

“This game was a starting point for us,” he said.

“We’re trying to create a team in a very short period of time. When I look at that as the circumstance under which we played the match, I thought we had a very good start.”

The only points Japan conceded was in the closing stage when Manuel Ardao scored for Uruguay and Joseph feels there is scope for improvement especially with back to back games against Les Bleus lined up on 2nd and 9th July at Toyota Stadium.

“The last 15, 20 minutes got a little bit sloppy,” he added.

“Those are the sorts of things we can’t afford to do when we play Tier One sides,” he added.