Test Match No. 148: Argentina National Rugby Union Team first visit to Japan, game 2

日本語 Photo Journal
15 September 1998 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
○Japan 44-29 Argentina●
First victory over Argentina
 
Data:
15/09/98
Japan 44 Argentina 29
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo
Half-time: 26-12
Referee: Givanni Morandin (Italia)
Touch Judges: 1st Antonio Lombardi (Italia), 2nd Stefano Mancini (Italia), 3rd Hideomi Miyahara (Kanto)
Crowd: 20,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Tsutomu Matsuda, 14 Daisuke Ohata, 13 Andrew McCormick (capt) (16 Keisuke Sawaki temp 83-full time), 12 Yukio Motoki, 11 Terunori Masuho (17 Osami Yatsuhashi 77), 10 Kensuke Iwabuchi, 9 Wataru Murata, 8 Takeomi Ito, 7 Greg Smith, 6 Yasunori Watanabe (20 Ko Izawa-Nakamura 62), 5 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 4 Yoshihiko Sakuraba, 3 Naoto Nakamura, 2 Masahiro Kunda, 1 Toshikazu Nakamichi (22 Shin Hasegawa 77).
Reserves: 18 Katsuji Ohara, 19 Takayuki Sugata, 21 Kohei Oguchi.
Tries: Watanabe (2), Ohata, McCormick; Conversions: Murata (3); Penalty Goal: Murata (4); Drop Goals: Iwabuchi (2).
 
Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni (16 Martin Pfister 51), 14 Ingnacio Corleto, 13 Eduardo Simone, 12 Pablo Garcia Hamilton, 11 Daniel Villén, 10 Patricio Fusell, 9 Manuel Diaz (18 Leandro Lobrauco 43), 8 Rafael Silva, 7 Miguel Ruiz, 6 Rolando Martin (19 Arturo Mimessi 75), 5 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 4 Alejando Allub, 3 Rodrigo Roncero, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena (capt) (20 Carlos Promanzio 77), 1 Gabriel Bocca (22 Damian Rodriguez 74).
Reserves: 17 Martin Molina, 21 Anthony Brian.
Tries: Martin, Ledesma, Corletto, Pfister; Conversions: Lobrauco (2), Fusell; Drop Goals: Fusell.
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 1min-drop goal Japan, Iwabuchi-3-0, 6min-pen Argentina, Fusell (missed), 9min-pen Japan, Murata-6-0, 15min-try Argentina, Martin; conv. Fusell-6-7, 20min-try Japan, Ohata; conv. Murata-13-7, 30min-try Argentina, Ledesma; conv. Fusell (missed)-13-12, 33min-try Japan, Watanabe; conv. Murata-20-12, 37min-pen Japan, Murata-23-12, 40min+2-pen Japan, Murata-26-12, Half-time, 41min-drop goal Argentina, Fusell-26-15, 44min-try Japan, Watanabe; conv. Murata-33-15, 52min-pen Japan, Murata-36-15, 58min-drop goal Japan, Iwabuchi-39-15, 76min-try Japan, McCormick; conv. Murata (missed)-44-15, 82min-try Argentina, Corletto; conv. Lobrauco-44-22, 84min-try Argentina, Pfister; conv. Lobrauco-44-29.
 


Japan made an achievement by beating Argentina in a send-off game for the Asia qualifier for the 4th Rugby World Cup. The two scored four tries and three goals each. Three penalty goals by Murata and two drop goals by Iwabuchi made a huge contribution to the victory. We can play like this. Top eight is not an impossible objective if we can be more consistent.
The forwards ceased to function due to exhaustion in the last five minutes. Captain McCormick thanked the forwards for running so much. There are areas for improvement such as easy mistakes and lack of individual defensive power. However, Hirao and XV have built a feeling of unity more than before under the banner of “speed”. The confidence they gained from this game means a lot when the regional qualifier is just over a month away.