Test Match No. 99: Oxford University's 4th visit to Japan, game 5

日本語 Photo Journal
1 October 1988 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
●Japan 12-23 Oxford University○
Lost to Oxford's logical attack
 
Data:
01/10/88
Japan 12 Oxford University 23
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo
Half-time: 0-17
Referee: Perter Robertson (Scotland)
Touch Judges: Noboru Mashimo (Japan), Hiroki Yagi (Japan)
Crowd: 25,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Shogo Mukai, 14 Seigo Umeki-Kunisada, 13 Nohomuli Taumofolau, 12 Kenji Imakoma, 11 Yoshihito Yoshida, 10 Seiji Hirao, 9 Masami Horikoshi, 8 Sinali Latu, 7 Katsufumi Miyamoto, 6 Koda Tsunejiro, 5 Atsushi Oyagi, 4 Yoshihiko Sakuraba, 3 Masaharu Aizawa (capt) (16 Masayuki Nagai --), 2, Tsutomu Hirose, 1 Takanori Nagata.
Reserves: 17 Masaki Hiraoka, 18 Kazuhiro Shirakawa, 19 Narihiro Watanabe, 20 Shinobu Aoki, 21 Toshitsugu Yamamoto.
Tries: Imakoma (2), Oyagi.
 
Oxford University: 15 David J. Cook, 14 Ian M. Williams, 13 David W. Evans, 12 David A. Polkinghorne, 11 S.J. Rupert Vessey (capt), 10 Brian A. Smith, 9 David Edward Kirk, 8 Mark S. Egan, 7 Alec J. Cameron, 6 W. Duncan Wood, 5 Troy Coker, 4 Simon C. Wensley, 3 Stefan R. Williams, 2 Errol Norwitz, 1 A.D. Williams.
Reserves: 16 Eugene Egan, 17 Simon C. Taylor, 18 Malcolm E.O. Brown 19 R. Horrocks-Taylor, 20 Simon P. Crawford, 21 Nick Sharrock.
Tries: Coker, Smith, I. Williams; Conversion: Smith; Penalty Goals: Smith (3).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 9min-try Oxford Univ., Coker; conv. Smith (missed)-0-4, 25min-try Oxford Univ., Smith; conv. Smith-0-10, 29min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith (missed)-0-10, 31min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith-0-13, 33min-pen Japan, Hirao (missed), 40min-try Oxford Univ., I. Williams; conv. Smith (missed)-0-17, Half-time, 44min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith-0-20, 46min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith (missed)-0-20, 46min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith (missed)-0-20, 60min-try Japan, Oyagi; conv. Hirao (missed)-4-20, 67min-try Japan, Imakoma; conv. Hirao (missed)-8-20, 69min-pen Oxford Univ., Smith -8-23, 80min-try Japan, Imakoma; conv. Hirao (missed)-12-23.
 


Once again, Japan lost the game they had to win. Although both teams scored three tries each, Japan was completely defeated by the clever ‘game construction' of captain of New Zealand, the World Cup champion.
Oxford stuck to basic play, and outperformed Japan in their accurate judgment used to catch the opponent's mistakes. Oxford consistently used the up-and-under approach in their attack from the start. They went into Japan's territory with it, and the forwards rushed in from a lineout to score a try in the 9th minute of the first half. They pushed in with kicks again in the 25th minute, deployed to the right from a lineout in front of the goal. Stand-off Smith, who was playing in the first-centre, wove his way through the pack to score a try. These attacks were all logical: They took an advantage of Japan's defence being vulnerable to attacks with kicks and when in the pack. They made the most out of the lineouts in which they had a huge advantage.