Test Match No. 290: Wales comes to Japan, game 2

日本語 Photo Journal
15 June 2013: G: Chichibunomiya; R: Greg Garner (ENG)
○Japan 23-8 Wales●
 
Data:
15/6/2013, Wales 3rd Japan tour 2nd match
Japan 23 Wales 8
Chichibunomiya Stadium
Half-time 6 - 3
Refree: Greg Garner (England)
Crowd: 21,062
 
JAPAN: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Toshiaki Hirose (capt), 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing (22 Yu Tamura 69), 11 Kenki Fukuoka (23 Yoshikazu Fujita 79), 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka (21 Atsushi Hiwasa 67), 8 Takashi Kikutani, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui (19 Yuta Mochizuki 72), 5 Shoji Ito (19 Shinya Makabe 45), 4 Hitoshi Ono (20 Justin Ives 74), 3 Hiroshi Yamashita (18 Kensuke Hatakeyama 45), 2 Shota Horie (16 Takeshi Kizu 79), 1 Masataka Mikami (17 Yusuke Nagae 69).
Reserves:
Coach: Eddie Jones.
Tries: Broadhurst, Wing; Conversions: Goromaru (2); Penalty Goals: Goromaru (3).
 
WALES: 15 Liam Williams (23 Dafydd Howells 53), 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Owen Williams (22 Rhys Patchell 64), 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Dan Biggar (22 Sam Davies 67), 9 Lloid Williams (21 Tavis Knoyle 50), 8 James King, 7 Josh Navidi (20 Dan Baker72), 6 James King, 5 Lou Reed (19 Andrew Coombs 49), 4 Bradley Davies (capt) (19 Jake Ball 61), 3 Scott Andrews (18 Craig Mitchell 56), 2 Emyr Phillips (16 Scott Baldwin 74), 1 Rhys Gill (17 Rhodri Jones 56).
Reserves:
Coach: Warren Gatland.
Tries: Tom Prydie; Penalty Goals: Dan Biggar.
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 14min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-3-0, 21min-pen Wales, Dan Biggar-3-3, 34min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-6-3, 44min-try Wales, Tom Prydie; conv. Dan Biggar (missed)-6-8, 48min-try Japan, Craig Wing; conv. Ayumu Goromaru-13-8, 59min-try Japan, Michael Broadhurst; conv. Ayumu Goromaru-20-8, 76min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-23-8.
 


On 15 June, at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium filled with spectators, Japan made a historic achievement. In the 14th minute, full-back Ayumu Goromaru scored the opening penalty goal, then Japan fought for the ball against Wales and gained territory with kicks by stand-off Harumichi Tatekawa and Goromaru. Then Hooker Shota Horie, flanker Michael Broadhurst, and flanker Hendrik Tui played actively while attacking and defending. The half-time break came with a score of 6-3. “(We had said) Let's just be patient in the first half. The opponent would have been trying to grab (or score) while they still had physical strength. It is significant that we could stop them during that time period.” (vice captin and number 8 Takashi Kikutani)
In the 5th minute of the second half, Japan conceded a try to wing Tom Prydie, but just after that, in the 8th minute, captain and wing Toshiaki Hirose, centre Male Sau and Goromaru made a gain from a scrum near the 15-meter line of Wales, then centre Craig Wing rolled into Wales's goal, dragging the opponent's players to determine the trend of the game. 
In an interview after the match, “In the second half, we won in scrums. We were able to get the ball from an important scrum cleanly, and it was the biggest factor in winning,” commented head coach Jones. “The biggest factor in the win was the backup of fans.” Scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka insisted that the cheers of the big audience gave them power. Hirose also said “We were able to play in front of lots of people at Hanazono last week too, and this week we hoped to reward them with a win, so I'm really happy.”