I am getting used to the life in India and getting along with the players very well, therefore, my life is very satisfying.

In many ways, the Indian culture is different from the Japanese culture. For example, if I ask players in Japan to do a specific drill 5 times, completing the drill 5 times is important regardless of outcome. However, in India, if players are satisfied with an outcome before reaching 5 times, they will wrap up a practice, but if they are not happy with an outcome, they will say “one more time” until they are happy with the outcome. It is difficult to say which is better, but it is also at these moments that you realize their strength of their self-assertiveness.

I personally feel that there are a lot that Japanese rugby players can learn from the Indian culture to be better and compete at the highest level.

The squad for the Thailand tour has been chosen through two selection matches. Currently, we are making final adjustments for the game. We have our morning training at 6:30am and evening training at 5:30pm as India's daytime temperature exceeds 40 degrees or higher although it is around 30 degrees when we have training sessions. The key to strength training in India has been the need for new ideas and variations for training methods. In other words, improving skills for coaches.

There are a lot of tasks in order to win, but I'd like to bring the team in a simple fashion and have good matches against Thailand and Chinese Taipei.