Birds of a feather flock together for Japan’s Jones

Aug 13 : Modern sport demands thinking outside the box for tiny advantages on the field of play, but studying videos of geese flying in formation might not be high on the list of many international rugby coaches bar Japan’s maverick Eddie Jones.

The Australian is preparing his side to face the Wallabies in Townsville on Saturday and has had some unusual video sessions with the team this week.

"The reason we watch videos of geese is that the head of the flock is like the ball-carrier," Jones said. "The ball-carrier is king, and then everyone else has got to follow after that.

"The geese fly hundreds, thousands of miles in formation and they follow the one goose in front, and it's the responsibility of the support players to respond to what the ball-carrier does."

It might sound off the wall, but Jones has built a reputation as a coach willing to explore all avenues for success.

Japan lost their first encounter with Australia in Osaka last weekend, going down 35-32 when Jones highlighted his team’s support play as one of the areas of concern.   

"We're very disappointed to lose the last game, so the most important thing now is how we take on this game," he said. "We have set ourselves the task of really taking it to Australia this week."