Japan secure fantastic draw against France

Last week I stated Japan needed to set down a marker with France…

I also stated when you play France you never know which team will turn up and Japan might have a serious chance of taking a sneaky draw or win…

Fast forward to Saturday and both came true. What a result!

Japan fought like warriors, taking France head on in all areas of the pitch, acheiving a fantastic 23-23 draw. Japan however must be sore to think however it could of been a historic victory as a missed conversion let France off the hook. Simply fantastic.

Jamie Joseph’s Japan dominated for much of the game and outscored their opponents by three tries to two, but fly-half Yu Tamura missed a simple late conversion that would have sealed a famous win, letting France and Guy Noves off the hook.

Hooker Shota Horie went over for the opening try of the game before Rabah Slimani responded for France. Timothy Lafaele and Asaeli Ai Valu went over for further Japan scores, either side of a Gabriel Lacroix effort for France, who was sin-binned with 20 minutes left for taking a man out in the air.

The hosts almost hit back immediately, but Lacroix was unable to touch down before being bundled into touch, while the home crowd jeered in disgust when Trinh-Duc opted to kick a penalty for the posts instead of the corner as he cut the gap to two points.

With 90 seconds until the interval, the fly-half did kick a penalty for the corner, and it paid off, with sustained pressure leading to Clermont prop Slimani barrelling over. Trinh-Duc added the extras to put a flat home side five points to the good at the interval.

Japan came out in the second half fully focused. Centre Lafaele barging through the hapless France defence to touch down and Tamura’s simple conversion edged the tourists ahead.

After twice giving away possession with handling errors, France were forced into some fierce defence on their own line after an excellent break by Japan captain Michael Leitch, before breaking the shackles and levelling the scores through a long-range Francois Trinh-Duc penalty.

A third Japanese try almost followed, but Kazuki Himeno was denied by a forward pass in the build-up.

France hit back again, though, with La Rochelle’s Lacroix scoring a debut try from a long cross-field kick by Trinh-Duc, who successfully converted.

Noves’ side were still spending most of the second half camped inside their own 22, but survived a flurry of Japan five-metre lineouts. Japan were given a further boost when Lacroix was sin-binned for tackling Tamura in the air.

Tamura and Trinh-Duc traded penalties to leave the game still finely balanced heading into the final 10 minutes, and the Brave Blossoms finally grabbed their third try as replacement prop Ai Valu cleverly took the ball from a ruck to score.

But Tamura missed the simple conversion when he should really have given Japan only a second ever win over a Tier-One nation, after their famous 34-32 victory against South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.

Well done #BraveBlossoms! A fantastic result which will certainly fuel their desire to do well in 2019 and provide then with confidence that anything is possible. Jamie Joseph should be very proud of the team…let’s hope 2018 brings even more.

Full match can be seen below (with French commentary)

 

 

Japan capture the 2017 Asia Rugby Championship

Japan captured the 2017 Asia Rugby Championship today after a 16- 0 win over Hong Kong.

Not only was it the Brave Blossoms day of victory, but it’s also their 25th title out of a possible 30 and their 10th straight since it became an annual tournament. However critics watching the match have commented that the performance today will hardly worry their opponents in 2019.

Jamie Joesph, head coach stated “It’s been a tough tournament, a lot tougher than last year. The Hong Kong team has improved so much and they really tested us last week as well as this week so we are really proud of the win today.”

As in Tokyo last week, the physicality of the Hong Kong pack served them well and they had the early edge in territory and possession. When Japan did get the ball, the visitors struggled to hold on to a wet, slippery ball.

The tightness of the game was reflected in the lack of scoring opportunities and the scoreboard operator had a quiet start to the evening, with both Jamie Hood and Takuya Yamasawa missing relatively simple kicks at goal.

However, the Japan flyhalf finally got his radar working in the 29th minute when he banged over a penalty from 43 metres out.

Yamasawa extended the lead shortly after the restart with a second penalty before adding the extras to Lotoahea’s try in the 47th minute after the Japan wing had been put away by Kanta Shikao.

But with tenacious defense and errors to the fore, there was no further score until the 66th minute when Yamasawa banged over his third penalty of the day to seal the win and the title.

So, the Asian Championship has been won by Japan, who will be glad to going into a time of reflection and building ready for the competitive Autumn internationals, when far sterner competition gracing the field.

In terms of my trip to the World Cup in 2019, I’ve not only decided to catch the England game, but feel the Japan vs Ireland game looks too tasty to miss, so hopefully the timetable will allow for that to be fitted in. I’ve currently raised £2k to do the trip, however if you company would like to sponsor this adventure in return for marketing support/bespoke reports from the world cup, then don’t hesitate in emailing nathan_flatman@hotmail.com For more information on sponsoring the trip and why I’m doing it, simply visit https://japanrugby.blog/contact/

 

Japan preparing for Korean (rugby) showdown

Whilst Donald Trump might be trying to work out what to do with North Korea,  Japan and their coach Jamie Joseph are planning a very different Korean showdown as the plans for this year’s Asian rugby championship take shape. With 16 new faces expected to be in the squad, Joseph is keen to talk up the potential of this new Japanese team for 2019.

The Asian Championship, which features  a home-and-away format should provide the Brave Blossoms with a run of “easy” matches against limited opposition, which potentially will lead to a 25th title. However, will it do Japan any good playing inferior teams when really they should be challenging best teams in rugby to ensure they are progressing as a team.

Since starting in the coaching role Joseph has  seen his team thrashed 54-20 by Argentina before a close win over Georgia and defeats by Wales and Fiji on their winter tour of Europe. However the  Brave Blossoms can expect an easier time against the Koreans and Hong Kong after racking up 242 points and conceding just 23 in four games last year.

 

Japan host South Korea in the return fixture on April 29 before facing Hong Kong at home on May 6 and away on May 13.

 

 

Japan set to play Romania, Ireland & Australia

Japan are set to have some challenging matches in 2017, which see’s Romania being their first opposition on June 10, followed by two tests with Ireland on June 17 and 24.

As many would expect, Jamie Joseph, the Japan RFU manager, expects the Romanian match to be physical. “None of the coaching staff and many of the players have yet to experience playing the Romanians who are renowned to be very physical opponents. The match precedes two test matches against Ireland and will be one of three great test matches for the new Japan team.” In their last 5 encounters, Japan have won 4.

In November, Japan then face a home game against Australia, which will be the Aussies warm up before heading onto Europe and the Autumn series against England. 

“Playing experienced teams such as the Wallabies are always very difficult given their experience and ability but if we are to improve in time for the Rugby World Cup 2019 we need to keep challenging the best teams in the world so we can also get better,” Joseph said.

With both Ireland and Australia are expected to field strong squads, so Japan’s young Brave Blossoms will need to be at the top of their game to come away with victory. Ireland are looking a increasingly strong squad for the Rugby World Cup 2019, with  several emerging players being molded by Schmidt and their recent habit of beating southern hemisphere team now being a regular occurrence. Australia need to use 2017 as a rebuilding exercise in readiness for 2019, 2016 was a woeful year for the Wallabies, so they have to set down some markers in 2017 and show they are building for 2019.