Test Match No. 131: The 1st Pacific Rim Championship, game 3

日本語 Photo Journal
9 June 1996 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
●Japan 18-45 Canada○
2nd loss for Japan was to Canada
 
Data:
09/06/96, the 1st Pacific Rim Championship
Japan 18 Canada 45
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo
Half-time: 6-25
Referee: Ross Mitchell (Hong Kong)
Touch Judges: 1st Toshiyuki Asega (Japan),2nd Masahiro Sakuraoka (Kanto), 3rd Kiyomitsu Kominato (Kanto)
Crowd: 7,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Tsutomu Matsuda, 14 Lopeti Oto, 13 Akira Yoshida, 12 Yukio Motoki (capt), 11 Terunori Masuho, 10 Keiji Hirose, 9 Wataru Murata, 8 Takeomi Ito, 7 Bruce Fergason, 6 Hiroyuki Kajihara, 5 David Bickle, 4 Kenji Sato, 3 Kazuaki Takahashi (20 Kazu Hamabe 10), 2 Masahiro Kunda (21 Masaaki Sakata 63), 1 Kenichi Kimura.
Reserves: 16 Kiyoshi Imaizumi, 17 Osami Yatsuhashi, 18 Yoji Nagatomo, 19 Ko Izawa-Nakamura.
Tries: Masuho, Motoki; Conversion: Hirose; Penalty Goals: Hirose (2).
 
CANADA: 15 Julian A. Loveday, 14 Shawn T. Lytton, 13 Ron V. Toews, 12 Stephen D. ('Steve') Gray, 11 Courtney Dwight Smith, 10 Robert P. ('Bob') Ross, 9 John D. Graf (capt), 8 J. Colin McKenzie (19 Chris D. Michaluk 27), 7 John R. Hutchinson, 6 Ian Christopher Gordon, 5 Mike B. James, 4 Anthony Robert Arthur ('Tony') Healy, 3 Rod G.A. Snow, 2 Mark E. Cardinal, 1 Edward A. ('Eddie') Evans.
Reserves: 16 Kyle Nichols, 17 Jason C.J. Hall, 18 Scott Armstrong, 20 Kevin M. Wirachowski, 21 Ian Kennedy.
Tries: Graf (2), Cardinal, Hutchinson, Smith; Conversions: Ross (4); Penalty Goals: Ross (4).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 13min-pen Japan, Hirose-3-0, 14min-pen Canada, Ross-3-3, 16min-pen Canada, Ross (missed), 18min-try Canada, Cardinal; conv. Ross-3-10, 21min-drop goal Japan, Hirose (missed), 22min-pen Japan, Hirose-6-10, 28min-pen Canada, Ross-6-13, 35min-try Canada, Graf; conv. Ross-6-20, 39min-try Canada, Graf; conv. Ross (missed)-6-25, Half-time, 42min-try Japan, Masuho; conv. Hirose-13-25, 51min-try Japan, Motoki; conv. Hirose (missed)-18-25, 57min-pen Canada, Ross-18-28, 64min-pen Canada, Ross (missed), 67min-pen Canada, Ross-18-31, 69min-try Canada, Hutchinson; conv. Ross-18-38, 73min-try Canada, Smith; conv. Ross-18-45.
 


The three tries Japan conceded from their mistakes in the first half weighed on Japan throughout the game. They could not pick up their pace and lost the second game straight following the match against Hong Kong. In the second half, Masuho received a skip pass from Motoki and scored a try in the 2nd minute. Motoki also jumped in from a quick deployment and scored another try in the 11th minute, 18-25. They cut the lead to 7 points and kept holding out hope, but that was that. Canada added two tries, two goals, and two penalties to seal the win, 18-45. The number of tries was 2 for Japan and 5 for Canada, indicating that the direct cause of the defeat was the three tries conceded in the first half.
The mistakes they made today were not due to their skill, but because they stopped playing when knock-on, etc. occurred. Any coach would tell his team over and over again to ‘keep on playing until you hear the whistle.' Although there were some points lost because the referee overlooked them, the referee's judgment is an absolute. There is also an advantage rule. Players should never again judge themselves and stop playing.