Test Match No. 296: Japan tour Europe, game 3

日本語 Photo Español Journal
23 November 2013; G: Madrid; R: Joaquin Montes (URU)
○Japan 40-7 Spain●
 
Data:
23/11/2013, European tour 2013 2nd Match
Japan 40 Spain 7
Madrid Stadium, Madrid
Half-time 15-7
Refree: Joaquin Montes (Urg)
Crowd: 6,000
 
JAPAN: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Toshiaki Hikose (capt), 13 Male Sau, 12 Yu Tamura (22 Seiichi Shimomura 54), 11 Akihito Yamada (23 Yuta Imamura 76), 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka (21 Atsushi Hiwasa 48), 8 Takashi Kikutani (20 Justin Ives 62), 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Luke Thompson (31, 41), 4 Hitoshi Ono (19 Shinya Makabe 48), 3 Hiroshi Yamashita (18 Kensuke Hatakeyama 48), 2 Shota Horie (16 Hiroki Yuhara 76), 1 Hisaaki Hirashima (46, 56) (17 Masataka Mikami 67).
Reserves:
Coach: Eddie Jones.
Tries: Horie, Michael Broadhurst (2), Hikose; Conversions: Ayumu Goromaru; Penalty Goals: Goromaru (6).
Yellow Card: Luke Thompson (31, sin-bin), Hirashima (46, sin-bin).
 
SPAIN: 15 Cesar Sempere, 14 Sebastien Ascarat, 13 Martin Heredia, 12 Jaime Nava (21 Javier Canosa 61), 11 Ignacio Contardi (20 Matias Tudela 54), 10 Mariano Garcia, 9 Pablo Feijoo (22 Igor Genua 61), 8 Gautier Gibouin, 7 Matt Cook (58, 68), 6 Glen Rolls (19 Adam Newton 54), 5 David Barrera (18 Ignacio Villanueva 61), 4 Alejandro Blanco, 3 Agustin Ortiz (17 Xabier Garmendia 67), 2 Juan Anaya (23 Unai Lasa 56), 1 Frank Labbe (16 Anthony Pradalie 58, 72).
Reserves:
Coach: Santiago Santos.
Tries: Cesar Sempere; Conversions: Mariano Garcia.
Yellow Card: Matt Cook (58, sin-bin), Anthony Pradalie (72, sin-bin).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 3min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-3-0, 7min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-6-0, 9min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-9-0, 23min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-12-0, 11min-try Spain, Cesar Sempere; conv. Ramil Mariano Garcia-12-7, 39min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-15-7, 46min-try Japan, Shota Horie; conv. Ayumu Goromaru (missed)-20-7, 53min-pen Japan, Ayumu Goromaru-23-7, 58min-try Japan, Michael Broadhurst; conv. Ayumu Goromaru (missed)-28-7, 64min-try Japan, Michael Broadhurst; conv. Ayumu Goromaru-35-7, 69min-try Japan, Toshiaki Hikose; conv. Ayumu Goromaru (missed)-40-7.
 


In the first half, Japan chose a steady game plan to add points with penalty goals, and full-back Ayumu Goromaru scored five penalty goals just within the first half without any mistakes. It was also a fighting way to win steadily in test matches, a strategy devised after reflection on the match against Russia eight days before. With decisions that seemed convincing, the first half ended with a point gap of 8 points at 15-7, even while Japan scored no tries. “Let's raise the play tempo, holding the ball more and reducing time to move slowly in the second half,” instructed the interim head coach Wisemantel. By carrying out this instruction surely, the players scored four tries in the second half. The steady fighting way in the first half led to the overwhelming game in the second half (25-0). Japan had built up their confidence with the results gained by implementing instructions by Eddie, but they didn't have it in this match, therefore they faced a difficult challenge: how to create confidence. There were challenges they realized due to Eddie's absence. They also realized how they had depended on his management. This tour made each player grow up a bit. It was also good that they learned about the weather and environment in Europe.