Test Match No. 83: The United States National Rugby Union's first visit to Japan, game 6

日本語 Photo Journal
21 April 1985 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
●Japan 15-16 United States○
Honjo missed a penalty when only one point behind
 
Data:
21/04/85
Japan 15 U.S.A. (American Eagles) 16
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo
Half-time: 9-12
Referee: Michael Farnworth (New Zealand)
Touch Judges: Noboru Mashimo (Japan), Akio Nara (Japan)
Crowd: 20,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Naohisa Tanifuji, 14 Shinji Onuki, 13 Fukumi Kanaya, 12 Seiji Hirao 11 Toshiro Yoshino, 10 Kazuhiko Honjo, 9 Yoshimitsu Konishi, 8 Michihito Chida, 7 Yasuharu Kawase, 6 Masahiko Koshiyama, 5 Atsushi Oyagi, 4 Toshiyuki Hayashi, 3 Koji Horaguchi (capt), 2 Tsuyoshi Fujita, 1 Jiro Ishiyama (17 Toshitaka Kimura --).
Reserves: 16 Masaharu Inoue, 18 Koji Kawachi, 19 Kousei Sakashita, 20 Hideo Kobayashi, 21 Hideo Toshima.
Try: Koshiyama; Conversion: Honjo; Penalty Goals: Honjo (3).
 
U.S.A.: 15 Mike Inns, 14 William Jefferson, 13 Denis Shanagher, 12 Roy Helu, 11 Kevin Higgins, 10 Bo Meyersieck, 9 Dave Bateman, 8 Mark Deaton, 7 Blane Warhurst, 6 Whit Everett (capt), 5 William Shiflet, 4 Kevin Swords, 3 Fred Paoli (20 Neal Brendel 74), 2 John Everrett, 1 Frank Horwath.
Reserves: 16 Dave Skidmore, 17 William Jhung, 18 Bob Olsonoski, 19 Jay Hanson, 21 Roger Castino.
Try: Jefferson; Penalty Goals: Inns (4).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 10min-pen Japan, Honjo-3-0, 14min-pen U.S.A., Inns-3-3, 19min-pen U.S.A., Inns-3-6, 25min-try Japan, Koshiyama; conv. Honjo-9-6, 30min-pen U.S.A., Inns-9-9, 39min-pen U.S.A., Inns-9-12, Half-time, 40min-try U.S.A., Jefferson; conv. Inns (missed)-9-16, 54min-pen Japan, Honjo-12-16, 61min-pen Japan, Honjo-15-16, 77min-pen Japan, Honjo (missed).
 


United States (Eagles) visited Japan for the first time. It was a test match with nail-biting intensity, and it was very disappointing that Japan lost it. Stand-off Honjo, who took over Yuji Matsuo's position following Matsuo's retirement, missed a penalty and an opportunity to become a hero. I would have praised him if he kicked it. He made a few mistakes, but was playing with enthusiasm. There are several reasons for this defeat. One of them is kicking too soon because they were too uptight, and missing it when they had to connect the play to seize an opportunity. The United States, on the other hand, connected the play persistently as they did with the try in the 1st minute of the second half. American rugby is not very sophisticated because it only has a short history. However, they show a high standard of play, too. For example, when a forward player is tackled, he quickly picks up the ball and moves ahead. They can be a strong contender when their power is combined with decent techniques. Tier 2 competition currently led by Romania is becoming more intense with the emergence of the United States.