Test Match No. 265: Pacific Nations Cup, game 1

日本語 Photo Journal
2 July 2011; G: Chichibunomiya; R: Keith Brown (NZ)
●Japan 15-34 Samoa○
 
Data:
02/07/2011, IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2011
Japan 15 Samoa 34
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo
Half-time: 8-24
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: 1st Taku Otsuki (Japan), 2nd Shuhei Kubo (Japan), 3rd Wataru Miyake (Japan)
Crowd: 9,700
 
JAPAN: 15 Goshi Tachikawa (21 Murray Williams 70), 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Takehisa Usuzuki (22 Hirotoki Onozawa 69), 10 Shaun Webb, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka (20 Atsushi Hiwasa 70), 8 Ryukoliniasi Holani, 7 Tadasuke Nishihara (19 Itaru Taniguchi 70), 6 Takashi Kikutani (capt), 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Toshizumi Kitagawa (18 Justin Ives 48), 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Yusuke Aoki (16 Takeshi Kizu 76), 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Reserve: 17 Naoki Kawamata.
Tries: Holani, Usuzuki; Conversion: Webb; Penalty Goal: Webb.
 
SAMOA: 15 James So'oialo, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 George Pisi, 12 Seilala Mapusua (capt), 11 Alesana Tuilagi (22 Timoteo Iosua 51), 10 Tusi Pisi (21 Tasera Lavea 70), 9 Lualua Vailoaloa (20 Uale Mai 58), 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Manaia Salavea (19 Maurie Fa'asavalu 49), 6 Ezra Taylor, 5 Joe Tekori (18 Filipo Levi 39), 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Tii Paulo (16 Ole Avei 77), 1 Sakaria Taulafo (17 Logovi'i Mulipola 68).
Tries: Tuilagi (2), Salavea, Pisi; Conversions: So'oialo (4); Penalty Goals: So'oialo (2).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 1min-pen Japan, Nicholas (missed), 2min-try Samoa, Tuilagi; conv. So'oialo-0-7, 7min-pen Japan, Webb (missed), 12min-pen Samoa, So'oialo-0-10, 14min-try Samoa, Tuilagi; conv. So'oialo-0-17, 20min-try Japan, Holani; conv. Nicholas (missed)-5-17, 28min-pen Japan, Nicholas (missed), 32min-pen Japan, Webb-8-17, 34min-try Samoa, Salavea; conv. So'oialo-8-24, Half-time, 43min-pen Samoa, So'oialo (missed), 47min-try Japan, Usuzuki; conv. Webb-15-24, 59min-try Samoa, Pisi; conv. So'oialo-15-31, 65min-pen Samoa, So'oialo-15-34.
 


At first, all matches of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup (PNC), which was opened on 2 July, were supposed to be held in Japan, however, some were ultimately held in Fiji, considering the influence of the Great East Japan Earthquake. For the night match held at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Japan met Samoa's strong attack at the beginning and kept just defending for 15 minutes. However, while getting used to Samoa's strong attack, flanker Tadasuke Nishihara, number 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani and centre Ryan Nicholas made low tackles to stop the rush of Samoa.
In the 6th minute of the second half when Samoa outscored 24-8, Holani's side-attacked from a scrum in Samoa's territory led to a wide opening from a ruck, and wing Takehisa Usuzuki scored a try using pre-arranged play, which excited the audience. However, ultimately Japan didn't make it. The match reflected Japan's weakness of tending to defend rather than attack at the beginning.