Test Match No. 47: Australian Tour 1975, game 9

日本語 Photo Journal
17 August 1975 in Brisbane
●Japan 25-50 Australia○
Managed to come close to Australia
 
Data:
17/08/75, 2nd Test
Japan 25 Australia 50
Barrymore Park, Brisbane
Half-time: 15-22
Referee: Robert T. Burnett (Queensland, Australia)
Touch Judges: unknown
Crowd: 5,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Nobuyuki Ueyama (-- Nobufumi Tanaka 63), 14 Masaru Fujiwara, 13 Shigetaka Mori, 12 Masao Yoshida, 11 Ken Aruga, 10 Masakatsu Iguchi, 9 Ryozo Imazato (capt), 8 Ichiro Kobayashi, 7 Takeo Ishizuka, 6 Yoshiaki Izawa, 5 Toshio Terai, 4 Hiroshi Ogasawara, 3 Toshio Kurosaka, 2 Toru Wada, 1 Tsukasa Takata.
Tries: Fujiwara (2), Aruga, Ishizuka, Yoshida; Conversion: Tanaka; Penalty Goal: Ueyama.
 
AUSTRALIA: 15 James Charles Hindmarsh, 14 John Robert Ryan, 13 Laurence John 'Spoon' Weatherstone, 12 Geofrey Arnord Shaw, 11 Ian Jeffrey Robertson, 10 Paul Edward McLean, 9 Rodney Graham Hauser, 8 Gregory Cornelsen, 7 Anthony Alexander Shaw, 6 Raymond Allen Price, 5 Brian William Mansfield, 4 Reginald Allan Smith, 3 Stephen Charles Finnane, 2 Peter Alan Horton, 1 Ronald Graham.
Tries: Ryan (3), G. Shaw (2), Hauser, A. Shaw, Price; Conversions: McLean (6); Penalty Goals: McLean (2).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 3min-try Japan, Aruga; conv. Ueyama (missed)-4-0, 5min-try Australia, Hauser; conv. McLean-4-6, 11min-try Japan, Ishizuka; conv. Ueyama (missed)-8-6, 19min-try Australia, A. Shaw; conv. McLean (missed)-8-10, 22min-pen Japan, Ueyama-11-10, 31min-try Australia, G. Shaw; conv. McLean-11-16, 34min-try Japan, Fujiwara; conv. Ueyama (missed)-15-16, 39min-try Australia, Ryan; conv. McLean-15-22, Half-time, 41min-try Australia, Price; conv. McLean (unknown)-15-**, 46min-try Australia, Ryan; conv. McLean (unknown)-15-**, 49min-try Australia, Ryan; conv. McLean (unknown)-15-38, 57min-try Japan, Fujiwara; conv. Ueyama (missed)-19-38, 72min-pen Australia, McLean-19-41, 75min-try Japan, Yoshida; conv. Tanaka-25-41, 76min-pen Australia, McLean-25-44, 77min-try Australia, G. Shaw; conv. McLean-25-50.
 


The game was in Japan's favour throughout the first half. Taking advantage of the wind, they used tactics to punt the ball deep into the opponent's territory, with both the forwards and the backs in active defence. However, they conceded a regrettable try due to an interception. In the second half, either because Japan was still shocked at the try conceded just before the break, or because they lost their sense of tension, they conceded three tries in 11 minutes to Australia. Although this exhausted the possibility that they would mount a comeback, Japan did not give up the game and scored two tries through their signature open attack. However, that was as far as they could get. They lost 25-50. The biggest contributor to the good fight today was tackling. Their tackling was so low and almost smothering at times. It is rather a rare case that this kind of good tackling works. Nevertheless, they lost the match. The reason was nothing but the difference in ability. In this game, Japan used the strategy to utilise open passes in the second half, and it basically worked. This proves that the speed of the backs is valid.