They are saying an image is price a thousand phrases, and no extra so may this be true than the photograph above. This was taken shortly after Japan’s defeat to Italy within the 2021 (performed in 2022) World Cup pool levels in New Zealand, a end result which knocked the Sakura Fifteen out of the event with out a win.
Quick ahead three years and the staff is in a really totally different place heading into England 2025.
As this summer time’s World Cup grows nearer, Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie is eager to bolster that Japan received’t be there to sightsee however to problem one of the best and perhaps, stun a number of nations.
“We’re right here to compete. The ladies have grown a lot since 2022, and they’re going to showcase one of the best Japan has to supply and that’s not a small factor. Individuals are going to like the best way they play the sport, and they are going to be correctly excited by the Sakura.”
In 2010, McKenzie retired from taking part in after making 25 appearances for Canada, she then took totally different teaching roles till eight years later, the Japan Rugby Football Union got here calling.
They invited McKenzie to change into an assistant coach for the ladies’s sevens staff. However the gig solely lasted a number of months as she was invited for a brand new function: head coach and foremost coordinator of the ladies’s 15s programme.
“I felt like I used to be ranging from a clean web page” stated the 44-year-old. “And for those who can’t make a distinction if you begin from scratch, you shouldn’t be within the function. The 15s programme was virtually in a dormant state, and there was a possibility for it to go stay. I took that likelihood and stated ‘sure’. It felt like a pure match for me.
“I needed to maintain issues easy and never chase 1,000,000 rabbits to then catch none. For the primary few months we centered on integrity within the contact, which ranged from the ball carriers work, the person deal with and tackling help.
“For higher or for worse it was our place to begin, and I feel the mindset to construct in direction of one thing and the significance of getting that framework {that a} World Cup cycle supplies was essential.”
The staff confidence grew and completed a number of feats earlier than the World Cup (performed in 2022), a event that didn’t finish precisely as they envisioned however was vital for his or her long-term success. As McKenzie states, the staff has undergone a number of adjustments since then, particularly regarding their mindset.
“ instance of that change was how irritated they had been after recording shut losses in 2024. You may see of their faces that they needed extra, that they felt entitled to be indignant for not successful. It’s a entire new stage of self-discovery for them.
“It was nice to see them irritated for not successful the larger checks final yr (in opposition to Scotland, Wales, USA and Fiji), and that’s why the efficiency they put out in opposition to the USA in April was so satisfying.”
Even at first of all of it, McKenzie understood that the Japanese rugby tradition was particular.
“After I first began coming to Japan, my publicity to the programme was very restricted on the time. It was type of punctuation marks, and I used to be lacking the larger sentence and paragraph.
“The impression I had was type of constant to the picture everybody has of Japanese rugby tradition: match gamers and well-organised system. Nonetheless, there was a lot extra to it.”
With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, McKenzie had to determine a solution to construct a roster for the 15s. Fortunately, the JRFU deployed the required funds to arrange a number of camps within the spring of 2019, which turned out to be a hit.
“It gave me the prospect to have a superb have a look at the 40-50 gamers who had been recognized. There was an finish purpose for the gamers who had been concerned within the 2017 World Cup squad, which was to qualify for New Zealand in 2021.”
McKenzie’s deep information about every one in every of her participant’s is definitely noticeable, one thing she pushed for because the starting.
“I used to be actually intentional from the beginning that I needed to have conversations with my gamers. I need to know extra about every one in every of them.
“Happily, as we stay in an age of Google translators, we are able to talk with one another at any time, even remotely or with out a translator to complement my rudimentary Japanese. I’m all the time out there for them.
“We needed to alert the golf equipment that this was a characteristic of the tradition we needed in our programme, as we wanted to construct bonds between the workers and the gamers.”
The Sakura Fifteens successful document has drastically improved because the 2010s, securing wins over Italy, Eire, Scotland, USA, Spain, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa and Australia, with McKenzie revealing two of the secrets and techniques that makes the current Sakura so particular.
“Two phrases: optimistic and collective. The best way they work collectively is one thing I’ve by no means seen in one other staff. It’s one in every of their superpowers. The best steps ahead and the best responses that we get from them after they settle for the problem are merely unimaginable each time.”
With out going into a lot element, McKenzie goes additional and breaks down the principle areas of the staff’s development because the starting of her tenure.
“The velocity of our recycling and the flexibility to play part on part, whether or not it’s defence or assault, has change into a characteristic of our sport, and it will be difficult for the opposition to shrug it off.
“Our set-piece has change into stronger, and we received’t concede any straightforward penalties, which is admittedly satisfying. On the identical time, now we have some particular person gamers who can present some distinctive talent.”
Having been with the JRFU for the final seven years, the Canadian coach speaks about how this journey has been a life-fulfilling expertise, with the Sakura having lastly change into a spotlight of the sport in Japan.
“After I learn the feedback from our gamers, I get emotional, as it’s if you perceive that you just made a distinction and helped them obtain their objectives and goals. It’s rewarding to me to see the popularity and respect they’re getting in the mean time.
“They’ve all the time existed, and it’s so immense to witness that persons are lastly coming round to grasp their expertise and development. That they matter. And it’s so depraved that we get to take it to the World Cup and present how far we’ve gone.”
As the sun is going down in the vibrant city of Tokyo, McKenzie finalises her thoughts by stating how her life changed the day she accepted to embark on Japan and become part of the Sakura’s tradition and historical past.
“It makes me deeply completely happy to be on this journey with them. Sure, there was a lot of stress and challenges, however the highlights and the folks concerned in it have been distinctive. I’ve nothing to complain about, they’re such an excellent group to work with.”
